Andromeda
by Prophet McGee
Summary: An unimaginative title for a (hopefully) vibrant re-telling of Bioware's latest chapter. Ryder wasn't ready, could never have been ready to assume Alec's mantle. But when it's fly or die, you learn quickly
1. Prologue I

**A/N:** So this is my first foray back into writing (actual writing) in some time. I'm not going to ask for reviews, though they are certainly most welcome and I will note that I have a tendency to work with greater verve when given feedback. I will ask that reviews are constructive, seeing as how that's supposed to be the point: Just point me in the direction of improvement. As an aside, I did my best to make Future Pathfinder Ryder's gender a mystery for the time being, hence the Prime and Squared thing.

Disclaimer - Mass Effect: Andromeda and everything therein is the property of Bioware and its affiliates. I own only my Ryders. That said, enjoy.

* * *

 **Andromeda**

 **Prologue, Part I**

 **Or, Exodus**

Exodus: noun - A going out; a departure or emigration, usually of a large number of people

* * *

From the memoirs of Alec Ryder:

 _Every great moment in our history began with a dream. Each bold leap forward was achieved by those willing to do anything to attain it. We are, all of us, leaving behind families, homes, the very birthplace of our species. Some for discovery, to see the unknown. Others, for a new start. But today, whatever our reasons, we take the first steps toward a new future for humanity. Today we begin to make our dream reality._

* * *

The shuttle trembled with a bit of high-atmo turbulence as it cleared Earth. Ryder looked out the viewport at humanity's cradle, contemplative for the first time in a long while. Europe twinkled on the night side, a jeweled spider's web that stretched further to Africa, Asia, even a slice of India way down there.

Never to be glimpsed again.

A quick reaction captured the image via omni-tool, stored it for posterity. A hand thumped against Ryder's shoulder. Ryder Squared looked back from the left. In that way that only twins have, information passed between them without a word spoken, ten thousand subtle cues that only those who have shared a womb just _get_. Ryder Prime nodded and continued watching home dwindle. Alliance fighters buzzed by as they hit the First Fleet's picket screen, then the slower cruisers and even more sluggish dreadnaughts. Ryder Prime placed a hand against the viewport and then moved to the back of the shuttle's compartment. Seats were taken as the inertial dampeners kicked in for the hard sub-light burn to the moon.

Most of the faces were recognizable, if minimally. There was Harper, vaguely recalled from the ceremony they'd held for Mom. Harry, too. A jumble of unfamiliar names and features filled out the rest of the Pathfinder team. Why Dad had invited them to join the Initiative so late would forever be a mystery. Whatever. Time enough for team-building exercises on the far side. Centrifugal force built as the shuttlecraft rounded the moon. Faces plastered against the port side viewport in anticipation. Ryder remained seated, watching as the gargantuan construction rings appeared. They passed Luna, and there... _Hyperion_ awaited.

The brassy orchestral could almost be heard.

* * *

 _In the year 2185, humanity lives in a golden era of interstellar travel. Our discovery of ancient alien ruins on Mars propelled our understanding of science and technology ahead by thousands of years. While many now enjoy the newfound freedom and challenges offered by exploration in the Milky Way, others look to even more distant stars._

 _For the hundred thousand travelers embarking on this one-way voyage, the future begins in..._ **Andromeda**

* * *

The _Hyperion_ was eerily quiet. Late-stage preps had been completed, and nearly all of her inhabitants were already dreaming of frozen sheep. Most of the personnel who were still awake were senior bridge staff, some medical personnel, and the last of the Pathfinder team.

Three persons, to be precise.

Ryder Senior, Ryder Prime, and Ryder Squared all watched as the construction rings were disengaged. There was a subtle background vibration, up through the deckplates and into the legs, as the engines spooled up and the ark began to make headway.

It was a bittersweet moment; the last time the Ryders had been together... well, it hadn't been a barrel of monkeys, that was for damn sure. Now they were leaving Earth, leaving their entire galaxy behind; everything that they'd known, everyone they'd loved. But the alternative was to stay in a place that was no longer home, even if those pesky emotions told them otherwise.

" _All remaining personnel are to proceed immediately to the cryogenic bay for suspension. Repeat: All remaining personnel are to proceed immediately to the cryogenic bay for suspension_ ," someone declared over the ark's comm.

Ryder Sr. exhaled and pushed off the rail he'd been leaning against. "Come on," the old man groused. His progeny fell in behind him. The tram ride was as quiet as their time together on the observation deck.

 _Awkward_ , thought Ryders Prime and Squared. Senior either didn't notice or didn't let it show. Or maybe he didn't care. He had always been distant, at best. It had long since faded from irritation into jaded acceptance. The twins shared a look and understood each other instantly.

When they reached Cryo they were ushered into a rapidly-dwindling line. Senior waited until it was his turn before touching a shoulder apiece and giving them what was supposed to be a smile, but in actuality looked like his mouth trying to claw itself off his face. Well, he was trying. Maybe.

"I'll see you both on the far side." And then he was gone. Prime faced Squared and did a better job of smiling. "What he said. Except in the singular." They hugged, knowing beyond their bones that they'd see each other again. And give the old man hell, if for no other reason than because they were Ryders.

The smiles turned wan as they parted and were placed in their pods. The hatch closed with a moment of claustrophobia, then the hiss and cool feeling of air against bare skin as somnolence stole up silently.

Were they supposed to dream while frozen? Would there be dreams of Mom? Of the happier days with them all together? Of Andromeda? Would there even be dreams at all?

The answer, it turned out, was "yes".


	2. Prologue II

**A/N** : For the record, this is a bit of a slog. But it's also a good way to try and flesh out my Ryder. As ever, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect: Andromeda and everything therein is the sole property of Bioware. I own only my Ryders. That said, enjoy.

* * *

 **Andromeda**

 **Prologue, Part II**

 **Or, Bestir**

Bestir: verb (used w/object) - To stir up; rouse to action (often used reflexively)

* * *

Consciousness blasted through the sludge of cryosleep with a startling alacrity, the needs of homeostasis making themselves painfully clear in the form of a heaving gasp. The body on the recovery slab arced upward into a sitting position with almost dramatic poise, like something seen out of an old Earth black-and-white vampire flick. Honey brown eyes went from glazed to (mostly) cogent at the speed of nausea. Ryder gulped down a few breaths, brain managing to figure out which way was up eventually. Then realization set in: Ryder was awake. Thus, not the first. They had started waking people up.

People. _Waking up_.

He dared to smile.

"We made it."

Scott planted his feet, pushed, decided a great big pound of _Nope_ was in order, and sat back down before he needed the pair of cryotechs nearby to peel him face-first off the deckplates.

"Easy there," one of them cautioned, though he could see the smirk pulling at one corner of the woman's mouth. "Deep breaths," the other advised. Ryder managed something that sounded like a snort but left his sinuses feeling inflamed. Yeah, definitely defrosting a bit more before trying that again.

"I've been taking it easy for over six hundred years, doc." The way her smirk curled a bit more genuinely with his self-deprecation seemed worth the pain. On the other hand, why was he tasting lemons? No, seriously, when the hell had he been fed a lemon? And who'd done it? They were owed an interview with the deckplates. Ugh, he hated lemons, even with martinis. While Scott puzzled over this, the female tech scanned his bios and referenced her datapad.

"Ryder, Scott. Recon Specialist. Part of the Pathfinder Mission team."

"Pathfinder team, hey?" the male chirped. "The ones finding us a home?"

"Can you make it somewhere tropical? Nice, warm oceans, summer year-round?"

Despite his best effort, Ryder's head throbbed once again with his chuckle.

"How about we get him a cup of coffee first?" Male Tech suggested. _Please, God, yes_ Scott agreed. Maybe he'd get that nasty citrus taste off his tongue.

* * *

" _The selection process saw the Andromeda Initiative evaluate thousands of habitable planets in the galaxy._ "

 _Completely new galaxy. Same damn sales pitch_ Scott thought. The dregs of black Nirvana spackled his mug's glass bottom irregularly, having failed to scourge the foul taste left over from cryosleep. He guessed he just needed another cuppa. Oh, the tragedy. Just as he'd sussed out how to steal the coffee dispenser without getting caught, a red-and-white uniformed asari stepped over and foiled his grand plan.

"Scott Ryder? Doctor Lexi T'Perro. Let's get you checked out. Eyes here," she commanded, holding up an arm so her omni-tool could scan him. Scott kept eyes front as she did her task and then moved in to examine his lymph nodes. Satisfied, T'Perro grabbed her datapad and typed in a few notes. Scott eyed the coffee dispenser again longingly.

" _After discovering an unusually high ratio of habitable planets, or "golden worlds", the Heleus Cluster was selected as our destination. Now you are part of the first wave of arks arriving in Andromeda, our new home for humanity_."

Doctor T'Perro's face scrunched lightly.

"Makes it sound so easy, doesn't it?" The burn above Scott's eyes was noticeably less than his first time laughing out of cryo. Who wanted easy? To be fair, though, he'd come through plenty of trials and tribulations back in the Milky Way.

"Even if it isn't, we'll be ready." Right. Ready for an entire galaxy of the unknown. Had he really just said that? Balls. Oh well, no take-backs. One of T'Perro's brow-ridges arched as she continued processing him on her pad.

"I hope so." Warning flags flew up in his brain.

"You know something." It wasn't a question. She didn't pause working as she looked him in the eye.

"Word came down; the Pathfinder wants you all mission ready within the hour." The implications of that... Scott glanced at his wrist chrono. Barely thirty minutes awake, by his count, and it was a little past the top of the current standard hour.

Well, shit.

"Look this way." T'Perro held up a pair of fingers and moved them laterally across his field of vision. Scott followed them mostly with his eyes.

"Any word why we're rushing?" he asked.

"He didn't say." Huh. So she'd talked to the old man directly. Figures that he'd be absent again. That old, faded acceptance asserted itself. Nothing new here, move along. "But something's up." Well, yeah. He'd already figured that much out. You didn't prioritize a _Pathfinder_ team's revival for kicks. Well, maybe somebody would, somewhere. Alec wasn't that somebody, though. Scott had had plenty of high-level briefs in the Corps, but the lack of info still chafed like a pair of bad underwear.

Doctor T'Perro moved around him. "Okay, everything checks out. Just one more thing before I send you on your way." From across the med bay, one of the other recovering members of his father's team waved. Some former cop or some such. Oh shit, he'd made eye contact. Scott gave a nod of greeting but still couldn't remember anybody's name. Now he had to figure it out or it'd never leave him be.

"Let's test your SAM implant. SAM, are you monitoring?" Silence. T'Perro frowned. "SAM? Are you online?"

Scott's scalp prickled from electromagnetic energy as he felt a holo engage behind him. Looking back, he saw SAM's nebulous... form. Was that right? That seemed right. It had to be right. Maybe he could ask and make things awkward, for good measure. Later, though.

" _Yes, Doctor T'Perro_." SAM's voice may have been modulated toward the masculine, but there was no hiding the clipped, mechanical syllables. " _Good morning, Scott. How are you feeling?_ "

Unsure of how he felt towards an artificial intelligence (developed by his father no less), symbiotic whatsit aside, Scott fell back on the time-honored tradition of snark. Mouth curled at one corner? Check. "Like a six-hundred year-old popsicle." Witty, self-deprecating one-liner? Check. "Definitely going to need some more coffee." Mug thunked on bed frame for emphasis, voice _not_ wheedling, needy eyes made at the dispenser? Check, check, and check. This plan was much better than hacking fire containment and absconding in the chaos.

" _Readings confirmed. Based on the levels of adenosine in your system, the implant is functioning properly_ ," SAM replied. _Huh?_

"Adeno-what, now?" Scott asked.

"It just means you're shaking off your nap," T'Perro offered over a shoulder. "No reason we can't get you on your way." A hand placed on his shoulder indicated that she was fine with Scott standing. This time, it was much easier. "You might want to stay around for your sister's revival." A gesture indicated one of the pods that had been caddied into a corner by the info screen. Scott's heart tightened a bit between his lungs. Well, at least he'd beaten her at something, for once. "It always helps to see a familiar fa-"

A judder stopped Doctor T'Perro from speaking further. _No, no, no, no, no, don't you dare.._.

"I don't like the sound of that." The lights flickered. Something either exploded or hit a bulkhead from five decks away. _Shit_. Then _Hyperion_ bucked around them. Datapads scattered, people were sent sprawling, and what sounded like shrieking metal drove spikes into Scott's eardrums. Gravity canted to port. From his position counting deckplates, Scott saw one of the cryopods speeding towards him and the doctor. Really? He couldn't have made it an hour? Well, this was an inglorious end to the beginning of Andromeda.

Then gravity disengaged.

Scott and Doctor T'Perro were saved from becoming abstract art as the cryopod caught air and sailed over them both. Well. That was great. Now if he could do something other than float and flail around uselessly, like maybe figure out _Whiskey Tango Foxtrot*_ , that'd be nice. The rest of the med bay wasn't doing any better. At least they were all equal.

"What's happening?"

"Just hang on."

Reports came over the comm system as people tried to figure out what was happening.

"This is Harper, I'm almost inside Cryo. Hang tight." The doors opened a few seconds later and Scott saw another familiar face from his last ride in the Milky Way. "Brace for reset!" she called out before punching something into a console. Scott did his best to not break his fall with his face as the cloud generators abruptly kicked back on, with mild success. Holding in a groan, he picked himself up, helped Doctor T'Perro, and dusted himself off.

"Everyone okay?" Cora asked.

"I think so," was T'Perro's reply. Scott just nodded and resisted the urge to rub his jaw where it had contacted steel.

"What happened?" Harper responded with a shrug and minute shake of her head as they approached one another.

"We're not sure. Sensors are scrambled." She eyed Scott up and down critically. "But it's good to see that you're alright." Her eyes twinkled a bit as she held out a hand in greeting. "Feels like centuries since we last spoke." _Heeeey_... Snark was supposed to be his thing. Scott accepted her handshake all the same. His pique was interrupted by the ark's internal comm.

" _This is the Pathfinder. Mission teams continue preparations. Cora, Ryders, report to the bridge_." Uh-oh. Alec was using his Professional Voice. Well, no rest for the wicked.

"You heard him," Cora started. "Let's-"

"Uh, we have a problem over here." Something about the tech's voice put Scott instantly ill at ease. "It's Sara Ryder."

Gut, meet sledgehammer.

Scott practically warped over to his sister's pod, biotics be damned. There was background noise, medical jargon that, science and math degrees aside, he didn't understand. His fists clenched hard as he was forced into the role of the helpless bystander.

"Doc?" he finally managed thickly. T'Perro looked at him over her omni-tool readout. She knew everything he was asking.

"Sara's fine, Scott. Her vitals are strong." Had she put an extra dose of reassurance into her voice for his benefit? He didn't know, and that was nearly as bad as not being able to do anything. "But the revival procedure was interrupted."

Translation: "This is beyond anything you can do for her." The string of expletives he mentally belted out would have earned him a mouthwashing even at his age.

"When can she wake up?" Had he kept the tremors out of his voice? God, he hoped so, his face was speaking enough for a herd as it was.

"We don't want to rush it. SAM?"

" _My connection to Sara's implant has been suspended. However, her pulse, respiration, and brain activity are all normal_." So she was alive. Safe? Maybe.

"We'll need to keep her in a low-level coma, to be on the safe side. Then let her body regain consciousness naturally. She'll be fine." Lexi's look told him that everything humanly (or alien-ly) possible would be done. Scott managed a nod but kept his lip buttoned.

"Thanks, Lexi. Keep us updated." He liked that Harper made it an order, if a kind one. "Ryder, I'll wait for you by the door." The muscles along Scott's jaw and temple undulated as they clenched and unclenched numerously. Leaving didn't sit well with him, top-notch medical care or no. They were supposed to see Andromeda together. Discovery. Shenanigans. _First contact_. Besides, she was his sister. Confidante. Partner-in-crime. Any one of a hundred adjectives and more, take your pick.

Finally, Scott placed a hand on Sara's pod, breathed deeply, and forced himself away. Lexi gave an encouraging nod and didn't shoo him. Scott left them to their medical terms, guts filled with snakes. Cora was waiting where she'd said she'd be.

"You ready?" Scott didn't say anything as the door slid open for them. The sound of an overspeeding generator greeted them. Then there was an explosion.

Goddammit.

* * *

The tram was blessedly quiet after the events outside Cryo. Harper watched him from near the control console. It took her a minute to pipe up.

"You're worried about Sara." Had his face given it away? Scott nodded. "You two... seem close."

"We're twins." Not to mention more united than ever since Mom's death. Alec couldn't really be counted since he was a casualty of his own career. If only- well, that didn't much matter. Cora didn't seem to understand his reply. Must be an only child or something. Scott's smile was wan. He said nothing more.

"So. You handled that generator pretty well," his dad's second segued awkwardly. Truthfully, the scanner had done most of the work. All he'd had to do was identify the problem and work around it. Cause and effect, it was all math; linear threads connecting directly or indirectly. He wasn't going to tell her that, though.

"I was a combat engineer during my time in the Alliance. Troubleshot plenty of similar problems." Granted, most hadn't blown up in the vicinity of his face, so there was that. Cora gave him a small grin.

"Humble, much?"

"I'm having an off day." They both sobered quickly. She sighed.

"Yeah."

* * *

The bridge was a frenetic hive of barely-organized chaos. It looked like Andromeda's biggest "Oh Shit" button had been pressed on nearly everything. Simultaneously. Cora's words from Cryo came back to him: "Just arrived in Andromeda and we're already scrambling."

Yup.

His old man was forward with the woman co-ordinating everything, presumably the Captain. And they were getting along with all the charm of cats and water.

"Alec, enough. You're Pathfinder, I get it, but this is _my_ ship." Ryder Senior barely took the time to look at her as he spoke.

"Captain Dunn, the protocol is clear: In the absence of communication with Nexus or the other arks, we proceed to our appointed golden world. Solid ground." Scott could practically see it, as if Alec had painted the promise out of thin air. Or that might have been a leftover effect from cryo. Whichever.

"Don't dictate protocol to me, Alec, I know it better than you do. But we don't know if our golden world is still out there. Or even what this cloud is. " She gestured beyond the forward viewport. That... was indeed a cloud. In space. Why was there a cloud in space? More importantly, why had it parked itself in their way? And why did it look unnatural as all hell?

Questions for later.

"I have to assess the damage, Alec. Stanch the wound. There are twenty thousand people still sleeping on _Hyperion_. We need to give them a chance to wake up." Scott didn't have to be Alec Ryder's son to recognize the stubborn set of his shoulders.

"Can you blame her?" came Cora's voice from his left. He couldn't, really, but those people would require space once awake. All the damage control in the universe wouldn't matter if the foundations didn't exist.

"My father's got a point." Ugh. He was almost tasting lemons again at that admission. "Solid ground sounds pretty good right now."

"Yeah, but-" Alec had made eye contact. And he was pointing. Fuck.

"'Pretty good' isn't good enough."

"Yes, sir." Ten-hut, soldier. Eyes forward, expression neutral. Except for that one involuntary tick as his jaw muscles bunched again. Ryder Senior eyed him a moment longer, then they could see the edge of the Space-Death-Cloud-Thing.

"We're coming through," the helmsman announced. All attention went to the viewscreen. The silence was pregnant.

"My God," Dunn breathed. " _That's_ our golden world?" Even from this distance, it was clear that something was very wrong. Dark sheets of discoloration marred the planet's perfection, and what looked like a massive storm was lighting up the night side of the planet, spilling over the terminator line. Scott couldn't help but think that they looked alarmingly similar to the Death Cloud.

"Habitat 7. New Earth, if we're lucky," Alec explained as he crossed to the holoprojector. He selected the planet, pulled it away, and then tossed it back for an enlarged view. "All of our long-range scans told us that it was in the green zone."

"It doesn't even look the same," Dunn exclaimed after a moment.

Still scrambling.

"She's right. It looks pretty dicey from here. Are we sure about those scans?" Scott asked. He wanted to believe better, but with what was in front of his eyes...

"It's a good question." Dunn.

"Things can change." Thanks, Alec. "It's been six hundred years. SAM?"

" _The energy from the phenomenon is damping our sensors_. _Planetary conditions are unknown_." Alec took a moment, gathered his thoughts.

"We're marooned. Twenty thousand souls adrift at sea. When the power goes out, and stays out, we need to know if that's safe harbor." He gestured over a shoulder at the former golden world.

"And if not?" Dunn again. Was that fear underlying her voice? Probably. Scott barely trusted himself to speak right now, so kudos to the brave woman.

"As Pathfinder, it'll be my job to find us an alternative. It's what we trained for." He paused, turned forward again. "But if this goes well, we're already home."

Dunn didn't like it. She _really_ didn't like it, if her face was saying anything. But she was going to let his father do it anyways, because he was right.

"Alright," she conceded. "But make it quick." Ryder Senior nodded and began issuing mission prep orders to Cora and Scott. Yes, sir. No, sir. Three bags full, sir. Thirty minutes. Suit up. Et cetera, et cetera. Scott watched the transformed Habitat 7 as things happened around him.

* * *

A/N: Aaaand Ryder's a guy. Probably should have let the first part sit a little longer, but *shrug*. I don't regret my choice. Again, hope you enjoyed the read.

 ***Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: In military jargon, WTF**


	3. Prologue III

**A/N:** No ados here, just hope you guys like it.

* * *

 **Andromeda**

 **Prologue, Part III**

 **Or, Contact**

Contact: 1 (noun) - the act or state of touching; a touching or meeting, as of two things or entities

Disclaimer: Mass Effect: Andromeda and everything therein is the sole property of Bioware. I own only my Ryders. That said, enjoy.

* * *

Initiative armor was... stylish, if nothing else. Scott was used to hardsuits with a little more weight, to be honest. Plus, y'know. _Armor_. Maybe it was the Alliance training speaking.

"Sara's going to be pissed that first planetfall happened without her," he said, finding those thermal clips he'd been searching for and snagging them. Just how many buckles were there on this rig? Jesus.

Cora scoffed from her position tightening a boot. It was hard to not admire her ass when she was wearing less armor than his hardsuit. Seconds never hurt, though. "Are all the Ryders adrenaline junkies?"

"Runs in the blood," Scott replied. "Sar beat me into the world by one minute." One. Uno. Singular. He sighed. "And she never let me forget it. Couldn't wait to get started."

Cora straightened. _Stop staring, Scott_. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure she'll pull through." Scott managed a larger smile than he had the first time. It looked more like a smirk than anything, but still.

"She like stories?" Cora reached out to close his locker. Scott's chuckle was as positive as he'd gotten since Cryo.

"She'd string me up from a light and leave me hanging if I didn't have any waiting for her."`

* * *

Predators? Seriously? Scott rifled through the locker once again for good measure. Where were the Valkyries, the Piranhas, the cornucopia of N7 armaments he'd glimpsed before jumping to FTL? Hell, he'd settle for a Mattock. Fuck this noise, he was taking a Carnie, minimum. God, what he wouldn't give to be able to get his weapon safe out of storage. At least there were concussive rounds. Ooh, and grenades! They couldn't substitute for his personal armory, turret minifacturer, custom omni, or any of the dozen half-finished projects he had going on, though. Damn.

* * *

Scott blinked.

Had his father just reassured him? About Sara?

No way.

He had.

No way.

Holy _shit_.

And he'd thought a Death Cloud was the weirdest thing he'd seen since waking up.

Scott's jaw muscles ticked tellingly. "She'd damn well better," he all but growled. Ryder Senior nodded. Uh. What? Did he feel the same way? Even worse(?) was the hand put on his shoulder.

"Sara's strong. She's got it." It took every scrap of willpower for Scott to not freak out then and there. Aaaand Alec was going into a speech. Great.

Business as usual, then _._

So why did it still feel like his insides were slithering around?

* * *

 _Fuck. Shit. Sonuvabitch._

Scott's lungs burned for a full minute after he'd repaired the breach to his helmet's face shield. Might have been from trying to take out a cliff with his body in true Ryder fashion. It wasn't inherently the air that made breathing feel like drinking fire. Either/or, perhaps both. Eventually, he got his feet beneath him and stood, doing a 360 to try and take everything in.

Habitat 7.

New Earth.

The mountains were floating.

New Earth, his ass.

He'd caught his breath. A flurry of motion keyed up his comm channel. Goddamn stock omnis and their basic UIs...

"This is Ryder. Anyone, come in." Static. He tried again, no success.

"Ryder? Ryder, it's me." Liam's verbal announcement of his presence was the only thing that kept him from staring down a rather large barrel. "Save your breath," the other man said as he came over and bent forward to take his own advice. "I tried reaching SAM, comms are trashed. QEC's probably shot all to shit after an explosion like that. Surprised we aren't decorating the landscape, ourselves."

"Did you see what happened to the others?" Liam's helmet shook in the negative.

"You kidding, way I got to see this world up close? Door shears off, I get to find out how much fun skydiving in the middle of an electrical storm is, and then our shuttle explodes. Too much of a blur for me to keep up with after that." Well, he was mostly right. They each took a step or two closer to the landscape. "This is a nightmare. "Golden World", my ass." Scott chuffed in agreement.

"Yeah. This isn't home." They caught their wind a little more, then Liam began jogging off.

"C'mon. We need a vantage point, something to find the others. They might've survived the crash." Scott silently hoped that Shuttle One hadn't had similar issues.

* * *

 _Fuck. Shit. Sonuvabitch._

His father was going to be pissed.

Day One in Andromeda and they were already shooting things. Well, that had kind of been planned for. But when their targets shot back?

Scott busied himself scanning the alien corpses while Liam got Fisher well out of sight. Without SAM to parse the data, it was all just figures to him. Math he could do, but xenophysiology and biochemistry were a tad beyond his forte. Fortunately, even the standard-issue scanners came equipped with Layman's Terms software.

"Uh, let's see... They're DNA-based. Those bone-looking protrusions? Actual bone. Weird, though; the genome is all over the place." If he was reading the figures right, the beings they'd encountered had a baseline genome with multiple other sources amalgamated in seamlessly. A shrug. The data was saved automatically. Handy, that. He'd let SAM have fun with it later. They couldn't stand around doing nothing. The aliens were bad, but combine that with hair-trigger lightning strikes and things went straight to death-trap real fast. Liam came back.

"C'mon. We still need to find Kirkland and Greer." They checked their heat sinks and moved on.

* * *

Ryder did not often succumb to rage. Today, he was damn close.

A clenched fist was the only indication of his struggle as he kneeled over Kirkland's corpse.

There had been no attempt at detaining him. No warning, not even the courtesy of a "hello, welcome to Heleus" before shooting him in the face. Scott took several breaths, had the presence of mind to mark the nav-point for later retrieval. It was all they could do for him.

* * *

Cloaking critters. Just what they needed. A scan revealed startling similarities to their unknown sapients. Judging from the look of things, attack dogs.

Great.

* * *

Greer's swearing was even more colorful than Ryder's, both impressive and entertaining at the same time. Scott gave him both Fisher's location and the nav-point for Kirkland's body before he and Liam left him to explore further. Gods willing, they wouldn't lose anyone else today. It felt good to know that they'd managed to save someone.

* * *

Scott's whistle was low and appreciative. He'd give credit where due: Cora had balls and the biotics to back it up. Sara sure didn't have the juice to stop lightning.

"Damn," was his sole comment. Her cheeks flushed a bit behind her face shield, but she had a small grin all the same. And then Liam had to go and act like an ignoramus. Cora kept her cool, bless her, and shrugged it off. Scott scavenged for thermal clips while they had the moment.

And then Alec called.

* * *

Three firefights in against their newfound foes. Not anything spectacular or fantastical, but enough to make Scott feel as though he had learned a bit about combating the new aliens. Aiming for the face or the eyes was the easiest, since they were unarmored. The natural armor wasn't as difficult to punch through as initially thought. Their arms below the shoulders had much less of the bony material to deflect shots. All in all, still a work-in-progress, but good tips learned overall.

And then he saw his father in action.

"Jesus Christ..."

* * *

His lungs were ablaze. Scott's body rebelled at the incompatible air mix present on Hab 7 and could barely manage a pitiful attempt at disseminating what oxygen he breathed. What he ingested may as well have been napalm.

He could hear his father. Saw the determination in his eyes, traced the grim set of his jaw behind his vox. The Pathfinder removed the ruin of Scott's helmet and cast it aside, worked his omni-tool furiously.

"SAM, encrypt memory."

Then he reached up, undid his own helmet, and planted it firmly in place on his son. Alec's plan unveiled instantly before the younger Ryder's mind.

 _No._

"Deep. Breaths." There was a hiss, the cool flow of Earth-normal air against his raw throat as the suit's seals engaged.

Scott's body had been pushed to its limit. Too little oxygen for too long, not to mention whatever else was in the atmosphere, even the working helmet could only get him so far against so much.

 _No!_

The thought that resonated within him sounded like _don't die_.

SAM's voice " _Initiating transfer._ "

He reached out ineffectually. His vision was grey and blurring at the edges. Dad's voice faded. Then all was black.

* * *

Flashes, like lightning. Little snippets of memory that slipped through his fingers as though sand. Cora, Harry, others staring down at him.

"We need to go _now_!" Habitat 7 thundered its displeasure.

A shuttle ride. Bumpy, uncomfortable. Chaotic activity even though Harry worked smoothly. Faces he recognized, all looking afraid, helpless. He was dying. He was dying and he knew it. But why was he still alive? It was as though an invisible kept him held above the Void from afar. Gods, it all hurt.

"Tell the ark to prep med bay. Move!"

Did he want to die? He didn't know. A day on the Presidium flashed by in time-lapse. Him, Sara, Mom. Butterscotch ice cream and warm smiles with hearty hugs. T'Perro's eyes suddenly bright with professional fear as his body seized violently.

"Get him to SAM Node!"

Sara would never forgive him if he gave up. Just make it stop. But he couldn't fight it.

Inside. Walls of metal. Artificial lights. The ark? He was on his back, Doctor T'Perro, Harry, and Cora racing as they carted him along. It _hurt._ He tried to tell the asari, but she just pushed his hand back down.

"Do it!"

Blackness. A deep beating, as if hearing drums from a great distance. He faded. Floated in uncharted, mercurial depths for an eternity. Dad showed him and Sara the stars. An evening of family finally spent together, his parents dancing slowly with knowing smiles. The twins laughing and running around their Citadel home.

Then rising, rising like the swell of an ocean tide ebbing forward and back. He took his first conscious breath into the living world again.

 _[Welcome back, Scott.]_

* * *

 **A/N** : Mugshot of my Scott Ryder with the next release.


	4. The Nexus I

**A/N** : Had alot of fun banging this chapter out. And then trouble getting a photo of Scott's mug. To rectify that, I'm just going to change the story's cover image once I've done a bit of photo editing. Anyways, enjoy the read.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect: Andromeda is the property of Bioware and its affiliates. I own only my Ryders. That said, enjoy.

* * *

 **Andromeda**

 **The Nexus, Part I**

 **Or, Complications**

Complication: noun (4) - something that introduces, usually unexpectedly, some difficulty, problem, change, et cetera.

* * *

"How you holding up?"

Ryder looked up from his coffee. It wasn't quite a neat whiskey, but there was no lemon taste fouling his mouth anymore. Little victories. Liam's expression was sympathetic. Scott tried for a smile and managed to compress his lips together with a shrug. What was there to say that hadn't been repeated throughout _Hyperion_? The situation hadn't changed just because he'd been served a cuppa. But it did help to know someone was watching out for him.

"Hanging in there," he replied. Liam nodded, cuffed his shoulder companionably, and stood off to the side.

Right. "Watching out for him." Everywhere he'd gone since Hab 7, all he'd gotten were stares and whispers. Even if Cora and Liam were nearby to quell anything, all anyone did now was "watch him". Even Dunn, Cora, and Harry.

He wasn't his Dad.

A fresh palpitation stuttered in his chest, making him hold his breath until it passed.

 _[Pathfinder, are you well?]_ SAM's voice on their private channel nearly made him leap through the overhead in shock. Ryder's heart rate sped up again momentarily before it passed. The AI's discretion in not transmitting over the internal bridge comm was... unexpected. And appreciated, since Scott was being honest. Remembering what had been alluded to in SAM Node about a deeper connection between himself and the AI, Scott decided to test the waters a bit. Supposedly, SAM experienced the world through Ryder's own senses. If that was the case... He nodded his head subtly.

 _[Your heart rate, blood pressure, and neural activity are elevated. In addition, I have detected several irregular heartbeats. Shall I alert medical personnel?]_ It took effort to keep his eyes from widening in panic despite the success of his impromptu test, but he did. Another sly shake, this time side-to-side, which he then hid behind draining the remainders of his coffee. The mug clunked down on a blank stretch of console, magnetic bottom gripping tight. _[Very well. Though I do recommend bringing this to the attention of one of the ark's doctors.]_

Then there was just the quiet of his own thoughts. Ugh. Headspace shared with someone else for the rest of his natural life. Bathroom trips would now be forever awkward. Could SAM read his mind? Time for another test.

 _SAM?_

Silence greeted him, simultaneously both relieving and concerning. Maybe he could look into it later. Weird thoughts aside, it was time: They'd arrived.

High-resolution images partitioned the middle one-third of the forward viewscreen and revealed large chunks of the nearby gas giant's upper atmosphere. It took several seconds for their destination to be discernible. But it was there, changing from a twinkle to a rapidly-growing speck, and then the Citadelesque hub of the Initiative become clearly defined.

First glance told everyone that something was off.

"Construction should be finished..." Cora remarked. Scott checked the urge to snark, knowing that it'd come out more biting than he wanted. Helm reported only automated responses from the Nexus. Ryder went forward and leaned over a console. This part of Heleus was miraculously free of the murder cloud, so sensors had no issue working to spec.

"Power and life support are online. Reduced capacity, though." That wasn't right. This was making his teeth itch. The unfinished construction? Fine. Delays were expected. No live greeter on comms, below-average power consumption, and no visible work crews? Something didn't jive. This place was supposed to be Initiative Central, filled to the brim with activity, but it currently held all the interest of a dry plain at noon. Dunn rattled off orders despite the circumstances and they moved further in.

 _Hyperion_ decelerated, slewing at an angle for docking. Everyone on the bridge watched, breath bated, as the gargantuan metal construct loomed closer and closer. The helmsman called out soundings at regular intervals. Closer and closer, then with a tremble they impacted. No klaxons blared, no metal shrieked. There was a second shudder and metallic clanging, the whisper of a groan at the edge of hearing, and then quiet.

"Locks engaged. _Hyperion_ is docked."

The air warmed a bit as everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. Scott checked his omni-tool and made sure he had properly synced maps of the station's layout before going to stand with his team. Dunn's look was ambivalent.

"Alright. I got us here: The rest is up to you, _Pathfinder_."

* * *

Liam seemed optimistic about the welcome party waiting for them. Cora just wanted a shower. Scott, on the other hand, was wary long before they'd set foot off the tram. The lower power usage meant that lighting was dimmer, turning the tramway into a shadowed tube. It set the hairs at the back of his neck on end. The departure station was barely any better, one sparking junction box notwithstanding. And when the doorway opened, only darkness greeted them.

"If they're planning a surprise welcome, they're doing an awfully good job of it." Neither of the others responded to Liam.

"It's like the whole place is still in standby mode," Cora murmured. Looking around, Scott's practiced eye agreed with her completely. The gloom parted enough to reveal stacks of crates large enough to block off deeper sections of the docks, still-living vegetation in the planters, and an uncorrupted VI that yielded no useful information.

Something had happened, something bad enough to put construction and colonization efforts at a full halt. There should be people everywhere, shops and venues thriving, explorers coming as colonists went. Not darkness and a warehouse's worth of crates with more questions than they'd arrived with. It was disheartening.

A sound reached them, something small and metallic but nearby. Scott's eyes, well adjusted to the dark by now, picked up on a small light source behind some crates. Motioning for Cora and Liam to remain quiet, Scott worked them through a small stand of boxes until they came across a worker in an electrical box.

"Why don't we just ask that guy?"

"Hi there. We're from ark _Hyperion_."

* * *

Scott definitely did not like the way everyone looked at him and his people when they walked into Nexus Ops. Two parts disbelief, one part gratitude, and a dash of savior-worship for good measure. He especially didn't like their reaction to the news that he was Pathfinder for _Hyperion_.

"You're not Alec Ryder," said Tann, the salarian. _You aren't good enough_. Scott felt his choler flare for a moment, but he kept it in check.

"My father is dead." Irregular heartbeats again. "He made me his successor."

"Alec... is dead?" The round-faced woman couldn't quite seem to come to grips with the news, and her eyes ran over Scott again in a less-than-flattering second appraisal. He closed his eyes and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Then there was discussion, demands and tests disguised as pleading for help. Addison seemed determined to doubt him and his youthful enthusiasm.

Enter Nakmor Kesh.

"That's no way to treat a guest."

Scott could have kissed her. "Nakmor Kesh, superintendent of this station." Professionally polite, too. "I hope the others haven't scared you off already." Snarky comment, the gleam in her eyes, mouth curled in a smirk. Yup: Scott liked her.

"At least the Pathfinder here is willing to try. Besides, we could use a fresh perspective." Addison left with some remark or other and another glance at him, Scott didn't really notice.

"Please excuse her. We're all feeling the pressure," Tann explained, turning further away from Kesh and more toward Scott and Cora as he spoke. "Let's have a private word in my office, Ryder. We can discuss giving you a scout ship." His knobbly fingers gestured to Cora. "I'm happy to work out the details with your... associate." A muscle ticked just below Scott's eye, but a look from Cora assured him that all was well.

Kesh's smirk was as wide as her station was long. "Welcome to the Nexus."

He thanked her. She drew him to the forward control consoles. "Let me show you something." A gesture sent one of her techs to work. "An hour ago, all this was dark. But now?" Motors whirred as metal shutters recessed. "You're keeping the lights on." One of the Nexus's unfinished ward arms stretched out before them, the hazy gas giant visible further beyond. "You've got my vote." His eyes crinkled with a soft smile. But there was still the step beyond that.

"And when the power runs out?" Kesh just gave him an inscrutable look.

"You'd best go talk to Tann and make sure that that doesn't happen. And don't be shy- come see me when you have the chance." She stumped away, though "stumping" simply seemed to be natural for krogan. Scott enjoyed the view for a few moments more as staff chatter washed around him, then reluctantly parted with his vista and strode to the Director's office.

Which, as it turned out, was a storage closet.

* * *

Scott sighed as he and Cora rode the tram back to _Hyperion_. Even on safe ground, they were still scrambling. Sabotage, Heleus's first murderer, and a station administrator all contriving to give him a migraine. Not to mention an _actual_ migraine and SAM urgently requesting his attention. He hadn't thought AIs capable of urgency. Score one for the construct. And then there was the _name_. Before the Nexus, they had simply been the unknown. Now, Scott had a focus for his hate: _kett_.

"Hey. You alright?"

Cora's voice slicing through the cloud of his thoughts earned her a short, startled breath. Her eyes widened, hands raising up.

"Whoa, easy. I didn-" Scott waved her concerns away.

"It's okay." He pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger and massaged there before dropping the hand between his knees. He sighed, then in the long silence realized that he hadn't actually answered her question.

"It's just... a lot more than I thought we'd be taking in right now. The Nexus relying on us, _Hyperion_ relying on me, criminal acts before we've even had a chance to catch our breath." Hab 7 and Sara still in the forefront of his mind.

Kesh had remained friendly during his visit, Kandros seemed a typical example of the through-and-through turian but with a bearing that set him apart from everyone else. Foster had been as pleasant to talk to the second time around as the first (that is to say, not at all). The science team had been as desirous of his services as everyone else, though with a far less political bent, and had struck him in such a way that he believed he could like them. There were still too many unknowns, though.

Priority One: SAM Node and Sara.

* * *

It was good to see Fisher, Greer, and Hayes again. They all understood Habitat 7 in a way that others just wouldn't, consoled him in the grief they knew he was still feeling. And even if they weren't part of the Pathfinder team anymore, they were at least still engaged in the Initiative. Scott wished them all well and then found Doc Carlyle.

"Hey Harry." The older man's smile was weary, but genuine.

"Scott, it's good to see you alive and moving." His gaze twisted away for a moment, then returned. "About your father- about Alec- I tried. God, Scott, I tried. I'm sorry I couldn't save him." Scott's grip was firm as he grabbed the doctor's shoulder with a vehement shake of his head.

"Hey. None of that. I know he mattered to you and that you did what you could. I don't blame you, Harry." The two men held their gazes until Harry acquiesced and nodded.

"Thanks, Scott." He brushed at his eyes before turning to the nearby bed. "Losing a Pathfinder on my watch still doesn't sit right. But it's done. Now I just need to make sure Sara here pulls through." Ryder looked at his sister's form on the bed and, in spite of everything, he smiled.

There lay his hope.

"How is she?"

"Stable. Strong REM activity, so all the neural wiring is intact and working properly."

"What happened?"

"Dumb luck? Coincidence? I'm not sure which, but we hit the Scourge right as stasis revival was kicking in." Harry turned to look at him. "It's the most vulnerable moment possible, really. The end of a 600-year nap, all your synapses and neurons are stretching to wake up, and then BAM! Neural pathways overloaded and all the circuits fried." At Scott's look, he reassured him, "I'm on it. We aren't losing another Ryder."

They were the best words he'd heard all day.

* * *

Scott's mind whirled. So much power at SAM's metaphorical fingertips, so much risk for them both. So many goddamn secrets his Dad had kept.

He needed a stiff drink. Fortunately, Alec had kept a private reserve hidden in one of the cabinets. Scott helped himself, impending mission or not. The bourbon burned soothingly on its way down.

It didn't make the "vision" any easier to digest. His Dad had cared. In his own way, perhaps, but he had cared fiercely for his family. Wasn't the fact that Scott was still alive proof of that? And the memories- stars, he hadn't expected to have unrestricted access to everything another being experienced, much less his own old man. And when Mom had called...

It took Scott a moment to realize that his eyes were leaking. He scrubbed at the tears quickly and threw back the remaining liquor in his glass.

Alec had _cared_.

* * *

"Whoooa..."

The sight of the swallow-tailed scout ship gliding in to the docks had drawn a small crowd. Graceful, sleek, and clean: In a word, beautiful. Everything an explorer could want. The percussive reverberations from the engines made more than just his heart tremble gleefully. Scott's face seemed to be permanently stretched into a shit-eating grin as she swooped in.

"They call her the _Tempest_." Scott leaned over the gallery railing, childlike, as though that would get him close enough to reach out and touch his prize.

"Let's go take a closer look!" He didn't wait for Cora, though he wasn't quite running either. Having access, since it was their ship, the two not-quite bulldozed their way through the crowd and down to the landing platform. Workers milled about loading crates, paying only enough attention to them as needed to get their work done.

"So you're the one who's making everything happen." The voice had a flanging effect no human vocal cord could reproduce, light and pleasant. A turian strode down the boarding ramp towards them. A female turian. A very tall female turian. The softer skin around her eyes crinkled, combining with a movement of her mandibles that could probably be taken for smiling. "I'm Vetra. Vetra Nyx. Initiative wrangler, provisioner, gunner, and everything in-between." She stopped a few paces away, but shook Scott's hand when he offered it.

"Scott Ryder. Human Pathfinder. But I'm guessing you know that." Vetra's "smile" deepened a bit.

"That's what they tell me. So, you two ready? Your other squaddie's already onboard. Liam, I think? And the sooner we leave, the better."

Scott's brows bobbed a bit in confusion. "You're coming with?" Now the "smile" tightened, or perhaps strained. Lessened overall, though it was still there.

"Yup. Ship won't be able to leave without me. Kesh's orders."

Hold the phone. She wanted to go with them. Badly. And she wasn't going to take "no" for an answer though she'd all but advertised her resume on introduction. That bit about Kesh had just enough of a ring of truth to be effective, but it was bullshit in the end. Scott had heard talk of her, now that he thought back, amongst the Ops staff. Someone who knew how to get shit done and who actually did it.

Well, he wasn't going to be the dumb SOB who turned her down.

"Aright, let's go." Vetra hid her relief well. Or maybe Scott just couldn't read turian body language for shit.

"Hold it right there! You're not going anywhere." Vetra's sudden stop was as comical as her muttered epithet.

"Problem?" Scott asked the dockworker/low-level admin/person holding them up. The stranger strode up and pointed at the datapad he held.

"The _Tempest_ isn't departing until I have a complete inventory and report of its supplies, munitions, and crew for Director Addison." Scott didn't bother to try and hide his disdain.

" _Director Tann_ overruled Addison." He couldn't quite keep a touch of smugness out of his voice. The stranger wasn't deterred, though.

"You're carrying provisions and equipment for outpost discovery- squarely under Addison's purview." Shit. A sudden gesture from Vetra made Scott watch in curiosity.

And she got the bastard to sign them off.

"Damn. That was nicely done." Smooth as all hell, honestly. Vetra's smile was back in place, genuine and warm.

"We have shit to do, and you need obstacles out of the way, not popping up. Besides, it'll be an easy ask." Finally, they were able to get onboard.

* * *

"It was designed... for a Pathfinder." _For your Dad. And now you._

That familiar ache coursed in Scott's chest again.

"Everything's been secured. Whenever you're ready."

Tentatively, he reached for the helm console, standing literally at the spear's tip. Screens lit up, data poured in, calculations ran across numerous charts before he'd even touched it. A glance back showed them all gathered around expectantly; Liam, Cora, Vetra, Suvi. Kallo had returned to his chair. Gil was back with the ODSY drive. Lexi remained below in Medical.

"Command access has transferred successfully," Cora informed him, her omni interface dissipating.

"Ehm... science and monitoring stations are optimal. Lexi's reporting in."

"Helm is green. Drive core is good to go." Cora came up by his shoulder.

"This is it. _Tempest_ 's yours." Mischief gleamed in her eyes. "Unless you've got something inspirational for the record books?" As it so happened...

They knew the stakes, the risks. Some had waited through hell for this moment. All he'd had to do was show up. But it was still as much his as theirs. This was their chance to turn things around. They'd crossed galaxies to have this chance.

"We were all expecting a golden world. Now, there's just a long road." He spread his hands. "Hold on to that dream, and remember that we're the ones who are making it real. That might be what pulls you through."

Scott turned back to the console and swiped through the destinations until a sandy red orb was selected. The data readout declared it Eos. He confirmed their destination. Kallo smiled from the right.

"Course plotted and locked in. Nexus control, this is the _Tempest_. Ident two-five, two-seven, prepped for departure." Kallo really was an amazing pilot. Their liftoff was so stable, the acceleration so smooth that no-one aboard even had to check their balance. In space, they seemed to be hanging, suspended among an invisible sea that their pilot navigated without effort.

"Departure vector verified, _Tempest_. Godspeed Pathfinder."

Scott smiled from the helm, a little hidden thing that he could keep for himself. _Tempest_ 's engines spooled, whined, and then the stars seemed to stretch as they went beyond the speed of light.

" _Ad astra_."

* * *

 **A/N** : So just wanted to put up an alert to my companion piece Moments in Heleus. It's just a collection of headcanon and little stories that won't be put in with the main content of this story, but it's every bit a part of the Andromeda experience.


	5. The Tempest I

**A/N:** My apologies for the absence. A work obligation kept me away for the past two weeks. I have the next chapter in the works and am making it this weekend's project. In the meantime, I hope you, my readers, enjoy what I've come up with in the meantime. Feel free to drop a review for c/c so I can keep on improving this.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect: Andromeda is the property of Bioware and its affiliates. I own only my Ryders. That said, enjoy.

* * *

 **Andromeda**

 **The Tempest, Part I**

 **Or, Acclimation**

Acclimate: verb (used with or w/o object) - To accustom or become accustomed to a new climate or environment; adapt

* * *

Tempest _is cozy_ , Scott admitted to himself. Lord knew that he wasn't used to all the amenities afforded such a personage as the Pathfinder. Given that that was now him, well... It would take some getting used to. Even during his Alliance years, he hadn't been given anything approaching what he now had. It was opulent enough to make him uncomfortable as he walked the ship, especially after he found the crew's quarters. The disparity in what they had nearly made him sick. He understood it, logically, but it was still horse shit if his _very_ visceral gut reaction was any indicator.

The big, expansive room was a startling reminder of where he stood.

He had a crew, people to rely on and talk to, those who would fight with him and, if necessary, bleed. But at the end of the day, he was the Pathfinder.

His was a barren little corner.

Unable to get out of his quarters fast enough, Scott continued his circuit and went aft first.

* * *

Scott's doctor was, conveniently, walking past the door when he entered the Med Bay.

"You aren't Harry." Lexi's brow-ridge arched sardonically. Monitors bleeped in the background.

"Did the blue give it away?" She dismissed her omni-tool interface and fully faced him. "Habitat 7 was a little more action-packed than Harry bargained for. He decided to spend his "retirement years" on the _Hyperion_ looking after your sister." This much he knew already. Scott smiled and extended a hand.

"Well, you're not quite my uncle. All the same, happy to have you on the team. Welcome, Doctor T'Perro."

"I'll do my best. And pass the word on to Harry." Lexi took hold of his hand and shook. "Now, hold still." Then she turned his hand inboard and jabbed him right in the webbing between thumb and forefinger with a syringe. It caught Ryder unexpectedly, his cry more one of surprise than pain.

"Sorry. Immunobooster treatment." She sure didn't look sorry...

"Y'know, I seem to remember you having a gentler touch." His mind flashed to one of the few scraps of memory he could recall of the aftermath of Hab 7, of Lexi holding his hand firmly throughout the savage, convulsive fits wracking his body, and not just in a professional manner; fingers curled around his in a manner of comfort, not simply meant to prevent him from reaching.

He could forgive her the minor transgression.

"Sorry. Still trying to get my bearings. Thought I'd be waking up colonists- not _taking care of the Pathfinder_." For a mere moment, he could see the hesitation in her eyes.

"Just think of me as you do every other patient." His hands came up at her look of incredulity. "Hear me out. Barring SAM, I'm still another human being. Keep that in mind, keep centered, and I couldn't be in better hands." Lex indicated the puncture mark on his hand with a glance.

"I just stabbed you."

Scott's shoulders lifted a fraction. "Enh. We'll call it a work in progress?" That earned him a small smile. She indicated for him to follow and they seated themselves by a display that took up an entire bulkhead.

"I'd always hoped to work in the field, but everything's happening so quickly."

"Focus on the positive. It helps." The asari's face took on a far-off aspect.

"I guess this is my opportunity to study alien species first hand. Getting a kett specimen would be impossible onboard Hyperion, but here..." Her eyes glazed a bit.

"Uh, what?" She snapped back to reality.

"A kett corpse. For autopsy. A live subject would be even better, of course, but I'm not greedy." All said like they had followed the most natural course in the world. Which apparently just left Scott in the cold. So...

"Why do you care about the kett?" Lexi's head tilted, birdlike.

"Harry didn't tell you?" Scott shook a negative. "My thesis on krogan virility and aggression is what got me into the Initiative."

"That's a very... specific topic," he deadpanned. Lexi didn't seem to notice.

"I grew up on Omega. Lots of krogan mercenaries there; it's the best habitat outside of Tuchanka." All very scientific and matter of fact, as though she were simply reciting a paper.

"Anatomist, physician, researcher. Quite the resume." Not like he could call her nerd, given how many degrees he held himself. Pot, meet kettle.

T'Perro just gave him another little smile and reclined slightly. "I'm also a licensed psychologist. 275 years of life have given me plenty of time to branch out. But we were discussing the kett. An autopsy could teach us potential weaknesses, potential lifespan..." Her look seemed to hold some sort of expectancy on the matter. Well, his money was on them being their foremost foes in Heleus. The future would hold what the future would hold.

"Right."

"Just something to think about." Her eyes narrowed in thought, and then she looked up at no-one in particular. "SAM? Make sure the Pathfinder eats his vegetables."

" _I shall remind him, Doctor T'Perro._ " Scott mock-huffed.

"Hostile aliens, death clouds, and snobby administrators on all sides, and my medic is busy playing Mom." Lexi's laughter followed him as he left Medical.

* * *

"Hey, Pathfinder." There was a gasp from Vetra's terminal, more of a squeal really, before another voice spoke.

"The Pathfinder's there?! Let me say hi!" Another flanged voice, similar to Vetra's but pitched higher, more youthful. Nyx made a noise in her throat.

"Fine. But don't embarrass me. Ryder, this is Sid, my sister. Sid, Ryder."

Scott smirked, imagining that Vetra would catch some hell for that. "Little sister?" Gods, the number of times Sara had teased and called him "little brother" even after he'd started outgrowing her. What he wouldn't give to have her near enough to harangue him with it now... Sid's reply was indignant.

"Hey, who're you calling little?" Vetra cut in.

"Look kiddo, gotta go."

"Wait! Ryder, I just wanted to know if-" Sid's almost desperate pleading cut off mid-sentence as Vetra killed the channel. Yep: Definitely catching hell. Vetra's face looked similar to her smiling from earlier, but there was a smug edginess to it that turned it into a smirk. Then she was all business, rotating her chair around to face him completely.

"So I know it feels like I just jumped aboard your ship without explanation..."

Scott's features arranged as though to say _well, yeah_. "To be fair, you did." He raised a hand to quell the protest that died on Vetra's lips. "I haven't had much time to process, I know, but I'm guessing the Nexus isn't much for scenery after the first fourteen months or so." He certainly hadn't been comfortable for the scant two hours or however-long that he'd been aboard.

Vetra stared at him and then chuckled. "Well, you're not entirely wrong. Sure. Yeah, I want to explore the galaxy, but the truth is that I'm here to work." She stood and started to pace the armory. "I know everyone on the crew. Know their likes, their habits, even which actuators Gil prefers for the _Tempest_." A glance back over a shoulder. "Even better? I know how to get my hands on them." She gestured. "With me around, your crew's going to be at their best. We've been failing for months, Ryder. Now that we have you, we have a chance out here." Scott blinked and took a moment and process.

Being expected to be a savior was something else that he was getting used to. Brushing away that uncomfortable thought, he peeled himself off the bulkhead and stepped closer as curiosity spread across his features. "So I've seen your ability to haggle with the locals. But you also said something about provisioning..." Vetra nodded.

"Like I said; wrangler, gunner, provisioner, and everything in-between. I can hold my own in a fight, if that's what you're wondering. I do what I have to." She glanced away, and following her eyes revealed a partially broken-down assault rifle of a type Scott wasn't familiar with.

"Big gun," he remarked, the engineer in him winning out as he made more than a passing glance over the weapon's guts. Vetra chuffed.

"Only the best. Like I said." Scott nodded with a look of appreciation before turning back to her. "We all have a personal stake in this, Pathfinder. If things keep going the way they have, we'll be dead." _And we both refuse to let that happen_. She glanced back to her terminal. "I should track down a lead for Gil's actuators. Back channels, you know how it is. Chat later?"

Scott nodded as she sat. "Count on it. And thanks." She turned back to ask him what he meant but he'd already gone.

* * *

Scott didn't quite know what part of the ship Liam was holed up in. Storage, maybe? That wasn't his immediate concern as he walked in to see his squaddie, though _. That is one ugly couch_. Scott watched as Liam carefully positioned his piece of furniture in front of a vidscreen and looked up with a goofy grin.

"Pathfinder! Help me with something?" Scott glanced at the couch and back, to which Liam held his hands up. "I know; not quite standard issue. Gotta make the space comfortable. Plus, the fabric diffuses the charge from an overclocked omni-blade. Not giving up a six percent boost, right?" he explained.

"Uh..." They shared a look, then a chuckle. Liam waved a hand.

"Just B.S. for the requisition forms. So!" The other man reached down and produced a pair of bottles, jangling them together for effect. "Got time for that beer?" Not a whiskey, not a coffee, but still a win: Scott accepted even though Liam had already popped the tops off of both. The couch... was not as uncomfortable as it looked, though that wasn't saying much. Liam made himself at home on the far end.

"You said you were a cop back home?" Scott prompted after setting up against a pillow. Liam took a hefty slug of his drink first.

"Yup. Mostly walked the beat back on Mars. But I sucked at it. Too many rules and enough red tape to keep an entire fleet grounded. Soooo two years and about a dozen suspensions after I joined the force, I took a "lateral promotion" out." Another drink. "Being a cop just didn't fit, kind of like a bad suit. But crisis response? Digging people out of trouble? That worked." He appraised Scott. "How about you? I bet HUSTL followed you into a few peace actions. Think about your Alliance days much?"

Scott quirked an eyebrow. "HUSTL?" Now it was Liam's turn to smirk.

"'Heavy Urban Search-Terrain 1.' Earth's contribution to a multi-species disaster response unit." They sipped their beers. "HUS-T1, but "HUSTL" looks much better on a patch." A chuckle. "All civilians. Retired vets- or shits like me. I was fiercely bearded." Liam drank again, a smile plastered over his face when he lowered his bottle. "Tastes better even when you're just thinking about it."

Scott leaned further into his seat, head tilting back as he recalled. Happier days, for the most part, even if Mom had been sick and Dad not quite hell-bent on breaking every rule possible to save her: guarding the mass relay with the occasional skirmish, drills and evolutions to keep himself sharp, all the books and tech manuals he could shake a datapad at, daily communications with Sar...

He smiled. "I think back all the time. I made Sergeant while I was in, so I was the non-com in charge of a platoon guarding a relay." He had to hide his grin behind a drink, but it was still plastered all over his face when the bottle came away. "The shit my guys and I would get up to... Didn't help that I know my way around a blueprint. Our company commander was a plucky little guy, fresh out of the Academy. Had the biggest chip on his shoulder, like he had to constantly remind us that he was the one in charge." Scott leaned in conspiratorially. "We'd fuck with his comms, power, HVAC, sewage; you name it. By the time he rotated out, he'd learned a bit of humility." And he left it at that, leaning into the aged cushioning once again. Liam gave him a gauging look, smirked again.

"I don't want to know beyond that, do I?" Scott shook his head.

"Nah. I just don't want there to be a trail leading back to me." They laughed together and sipped once more. Silence stretched.

"So, Pathfinder. Why Andromeda?" Scott's eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets at the title, but he could bear the indignation.

"That blunt?" Liam was smirking once again.

"That blunt." Scott didn't even have to think about it.

"Same reason as the rest of my family. Mom was gone." Another ache in his chest. "Dad going along with the Initiative wasn't good enough reason, but when Sara brought the idea to me I had to sign up."

"How did she convince you?" Well, that was an easy answer.

"How could she not? We've been thick as thieves since the womb." He had the ultrasound captures to prove he and Sara had been holding hands even that far back, too. "Once she said she was going, I was along for the ride. Simple as that. Once the truth about our Dad's research came to light, the Milky Way just became too toxic a place to try and keep going." That had been the kicker. Liam let out a low whistle. "Back at you, Kosta. Why'd you come?" The other man grimaced slightly and considered his words.

"I _want_ to say, "I'm running from my past, but really I'm running from myself." That would at least make for a good story." Liam knocked back a gulp of beer. "But it's all bullshit. I had family, friends, a good enough job. There was nothing wrong with my life. Then, I heard about the Initiative and, well... I believed in it. Believed in a new beginning. Still do. I have to. We're in the middle of it." Scott nodded.

"I get it. There's alot riding on us." There was a tongue-twister somewhere in there with his last name on it. But that aside, there were still, hopes, dreams, the wants and desires of over a hundred-thousand emigrants from one galaxy to another. And a good fifth of them running shotgun on his shoulders.

Liam nodded. "We came from a good place, for good reasons. Keep that in mind, it'll steer us right. Just like back in crisis response. Remember the essentials. A new start, guided by the Pathfinders- and team." Another thump in Scott's chest. "I'll bust my tail to make that a good story."

They both toasted and drank together.

* * *

"Pathfinder making the rounds." Gil turned, one side of his mouth slanted at an angle. "Slumming it, huh? Want to see how the riffraff are making out?" Scott blinked, then chuckled.

"Dirty job, I see." He gestured at Gil's stained fingers. "You the riffraff spokesperson?" Gil was all smooth smiles, no hesitation or concern whatsoever.

"King, actually." The wrench turner tilted in slightly. "You might want to bow. Otherwise, no telling what might fall off the ship while you're out there." Ryder laughed.

"I'll take my chances." Then, a more serious tone: "Just wanted to see how things are going with the ship." Gil might as well have been the cat that ate the canary.

"I can coax more out of this baby than some might think, but we shouldn't go too far or push too hard between Nexus stops." A pause, another grin working its way across his face. "For now. Just feels good to be stretching our wings, y'know? Locked in idle too long, you start to drift. People same as ships. Stuck on the Nexus, gotta say I was regretting joining the Initiative." Scott cocked an eyebrow.

"I heard that life back then (there?) was pretty bleak." Gil nodded, his face twisting in empathy.

"Yup. Not gonna lie; it sucked. Me? I tend to live the way I work: kinda "feel it, do it, think later". If I even think about it at all. Not alot of close ties, no real sense of purpose." A shrug. "Figured maybe I'd find my true calling in Andromeda. Then I got here and, oops, I just made a decision there's no turning back from." A spluttering sigh, cocking his head at an angle to look up Scott. "I was about damn near ready for a straight jacket on that station. You wouldn't have believed how jazzed I was when you and yours showed up." Gil was rewarded with a laugh.

"Well, happy to be of service." Scott smiled and turned to leave. "Let me know if you need anything."

* * *

The first thing Scott noticed about the bio lab was that it was noticeably more humid than the rest of the ship. The second was that Cora was agitated. Even a basic human psychology course could have covered a textbook's worth of subject material from her body language alone.

"Nice place you've found." Ugh. Now it was his turn to segue awkwardly. Well, fair was fair. She rummaged around a storage crate, rifling rapidly as he planted himself against a bulkhead.

"Clean air. Plants. Helps me think."

"Something on your mind?"

Cora chucked a bottle back into the crate and stood. Her foot didn't even touch the crate but it moved, minor mass effect field rippling. "Maybe."

Scott didn't need to have been raised within a biotic family to recognize a flare-up when he saw one. But it did help. Instantly, he was off his perch.

"Easy," he soothed. "Breathe, focus, center, repeat." Then he did the steps to show her, complete with the goofy hand gestures. Cora stared, dumbfounded in her surprise, and then followed his instructions. After, she remarked, "That's right; your sister-" He smiled sadly.

"Yeah. There were more than a few times Sara needed help keeping control. Memorizing the handbooks as they got published seemed like the least I could do for her." Cora watched him for a moment longer, breathed again, and seemed much more at ease.

"I'm fine now. Thanks, Ryder." She turned to lean against the nearby desk with a small sigh. "I don't normally lose it like that. A huntress should have better control."

"Huntress? You mean like the asari commandos?" Cora nodded.

"Hm-hmm. I was one, before the Initiative." Scott eyed her up and down, managing to point out the obvious lack of blued skin and cartilaginous scalp crests without saying a word. She looked at him as though to say _whatever_ , and eyed him right back. "Some things stick, though. Like losing the old man." Scott's face pinched, closing a little as he managed to give her a nod of acknowledgement.

"How does a human soldier get to serve with asari?" he asked, managing to smoothly sidestep talking about Alec for the time being. Cora shrugged as though it were no big deal.

"Prove your biotics can rip apart an APC. People tend to get nervous afterward. Funny, that." She couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of her tone. "The Alliance found me a cross-species military initiative in a hurry. Sent me to Thessia to serve with a huntress unit." Her smile widened affectionately at the recollection. "One of the few places where my powers were welcomed." A glance sidelong, eyes peering through her bangs. "Your father made another one."

And now he couldn't avoid the subject. "You were his second. How well did you know him?" Not weird at all... Cora's grin turned reminiscent. And a little fond.

"He was more a mentor than a friend. Prickly old sonuvabitch, but I respected that." _Careful, Harper, we're agreeing about my Dad here..._ "People treat geniuses like they're cut from glass. Me?" She shrugged. "I never cared how smart he was. I think he enjoyed having someone like that around." Yeah, Scott could see her precisely in that vein, and he may not have been Alec (thank God), but he still had ears.

"I know it isn't quite the same. But I'm a good listener if you need it." That smile took a bit of an edge to it.

"I hope you're as good at being Pathfinder." Ryder managed to keep from wincing. Cora eyed him again, breathed once more, and came out with it. "I prepped for years as your father's second, then he chooses you. An untrained Pathfinder and all this mess to fix? What the hell was he thinking?"

Ouch. Never mind that he'd saved his life.

At least she was being forthright about it. Scott could both understand and forgive that. And truthfully, she made a valid point. He still wasn't sure that he wanted this job, whether SAM was tied to his homeostatic processes or not. After a moment, she colored, face arranging into contrition.

"That... didn't come out the way I meant it. I just wish we weren't working with so many unanswered questions or so little preparation for what we're facing." Cora glanced away a second, then returned her gaze to his. "I'm sorry, Scott. And I _am_ glad that you survived."

"Is this going to be a problem between us, Cora?" _Please. Don't look at me like I'm a failure, too._ Her frame heaved with a breath, musculature highlighting under her shirt's cotton veneer. Even with the tension, Scott took a second to appreciate it before they were all business again. Her asymmetric hair bobbed as she shook her head.

"I'm not interested in a rival, or being one. I just want answers, like I said." _Wouldn't we all?_ Another sigh. "But it's done. The best I can do now is be your second and keep your father's mission- _your_ mission- alive. Then maybe we'll all get what we came out here for.

Scott's head angled with his grin after a moment. "Can't say I dislike the idea of you and me, side by side, taking on Heleus." Cora flushed a little deeper, her face fluctuating from disbelief to appreciation to, dare he say it, interest.

"Don't be charming when I'm trying to be mad at you," she rebuffed, though there was a coyness hiding in her tone and along her lips. The grin curled further at one corner of his mouth, and he tilted forward into her personal space as though scrutinizing.

"Are you? Mad, I mean. You're not glowing. _Blushing_ , perhaps..." Cora chuffed and pushed at his chest. Scott relented and stepped back as she tucked the longer strands of her hair behind her ear, then let her arm drop.

"I- Look, we still have a mission. Alot of dreams left to fulfill." Nevermind the sleepers on the arks. Scott let it lie, though, and his countenance turned curious.

"Yeah? What about you? What dreams brought Cora Harper to Andromeda?" The sudden shift and his directness brought her up short for a second, but she recovered quickly.

"Biotics like this, thinking like an asari huntress- It all meant I never had a place back home. Best thing I could be? A useful freak." She tried not to spit the word, with moderate success. "The Initiative was meant to be different. _Will_ be different, so long as its mission succeeds. That's the kind of thing I'll make certain happens." Cora took a big breath, glanced around the barren hydroponics compartment. "It's quiet in here. I can keep the plants watered while I work. Job one: See if I can dig up anything on the asari ark. We could really use their expertise, plus I just want them to have made it here." She considered something momentarily before speaking again.

"And Scott? Anytime you need to chat, I'm here." His smile warmed her long after he'd departed.

* * *

Ryder could hear his last two remaining crewmates before he got close enough for the bridge hatch to open.

"We haven't really spoken since orientation, have we?" The brogue was foreign, rolling around some syllables and drawing others out in a lyrical manner, reminiscent of a flute.

"It's all been so hectic," admitted Kallo's more familiar voice. "But I'm sure things will quiet down soon enough. It can't be as bad as the Nexus." Suvi caught sight of Ryder then, after he'd crossed the threshold.

"Ah, Pathfinder! It's so wonderful to meet you." The red-haired woman pushed away from her perch against the railing to reach for his hands when they'd closed the distance. Kallo's features arranged themselves into a "you're in for it now," kind of expression, and he indicated for Ryder to go on. Speaking of which, she had managed to get hold of his hands, though Scott couldn't quite remember that happening. And _wow_ , she was enthusiastic. Cute as a button, in something of a younger sister fashion, her entire demeanor bright and open.

"I'm Doctor Suvi Anwar, assigned to act as liaison between your crew and the Nexus science team." Scott found her smiles infectious, and let her pump his hands as long as she liked. Sara would have gotten along with her well, he already knew.

"Welcome to the team." He could barely get anything else past her ardor. "I look forward to working with you." Her smile became even wider, if possible.

"Likewise! I can't wait to get to work. There hasn't been much else to do, and honestly, that's been the worst part. Aside from the uprising, I mean." She made a gesture, sort of a whole-body "oopsie", then instantly returned to the ebullient scientist. "I've studied all the planetary scans. I've even had some hands-on with Heleus soil samples. If you want, I'll send you my analysis on the native bacteria and microfauna. Sixty pages." Jesus. Scott liked to read, but damn.

"That's... a lot of pages. About dirt," he managed to deadpan. _Eloquent_. Suvi had let go of his hands at some point, her own beginning to wring and play with each other absently, body language sheepish.

"Oh, you don't have to be kind. I know it's barely more than a summary." Her look was grateful, all the same. "Anyways, I've waited months to get out there to see Heleus. It's why I joined the Initiative." She turned and indicated the unfamiliar stars visible beyond the bridge. "The Milky Way was a corner of the universe, a corner of a tiny corner. We're the ones who got to step out of that and explore. It's _incredible_." Ryder could relate. Not with anything approaching her pep, but he could relate all the same.

"I guarded a mass relay for some time. Always did want to see the other side." His eyes held the wonder of a younger Scott for a moment. Suvi seemed to get him completely.

"Exactly!" she bubbled.

"Will you be joining us on missions?" Suvi scoffed, running her fingers together again.

"Oh, that's funny. Me. Out there. With the guns and the danger and everything." She seemed to genuinely believe that he'd been joking. No way she was that naive.

"But don't you want to see it all? Hear, see, touch, smell, and taste firsthand?" _Experience it with all your being_ his body said. "I know I do."

"Oh, absolutely." She bobbed a bit before shrinking again. "But I know my strengths. Trust me, I'm far more useful to you in the laboratory, behind my instruments." A look at the science officer's station over one shoulder, her look energetic. "Anyway, I've received instructions from the science team, and I really should go over them. Later?" Scott gestured for her to go on, watching with a smile. Then he went to go see his pilot.

Kallo glanced at Ryder's approach. "Glad you stopped by." Dark eyes faced forward again, seeming almost to oscillate between the consoles and what was beyond the reinforced glass. "You'll pardon me if I keep an eye on _Tempest_ 's vector?" He could have said it any of a dozen ways, but kept it respectable. Scott appreciated it, and didn't blame him.

"Probably smart," he agreed amiably, salarian reflexes or no. Kallo inhaled through his nostrils noisily.

"Ah, nothing like being on the bridge of your very own ship, is there?" Fingers flitted across the controls, adjusting to keep them on course. Scott's eyes took to beyond the bridge again.

"I hear you. Could just stand here and drink in that view all day." Kallo nodded enthusiastically.

"When I was test flying the ship back home, I often did. Of course, it took a whole team to build the _Tempest_." If salarian body language was anything similar to a human's, the slump in Kallo's shoulders was a sign of sadness. "I was the only one to come to Heleus, though."

Ryder leaned against the nearby railing, hands going to either side of his. "Yeah? Why's that?" It seemed to him more likely that a larger number of those involved would have gone. Or maybe he was just crazy. Kallo shrugged, one eye on his readouts.

"What can I say? We poured our hearts into a ship that wouldn't realize her potential until Andromeda. I could've stood on the shore and waved goodbye..." A proud glance sidelong at Scott. "Or taken the plunge to see how it all turned out." _There_ was the drive Scott had been looking for!

"I'd have done the same. Like leaving a good story half-finished." Blasphemy, as far as he was concerned. Who left J.R.R. Tolkien, Alexandre Dumas, Jack London, or Marcus Aurelius undone? But they were talking about Kallo...

"The team liked that one of us would be going. It felt right, after all we went through." He settled further into his chair, elbows resting on its arms. "I remember Sorenna debugging line 2281 over and over, chewing on that green pencil. Teon and O'Connell arguing equations, tapping on the console, three drips of coffee on the console." Scott tilted his head, ruts forming between his eyebrows.

"You remember all that?" Kallo blinked, glancing up at him.

"Hm? Oh yes. Salarians have photographic memories, and mine is unusually sharp. Almost as though my past is still happening in front of me." Damn. Good memory. It sounded excruciatingly detailed, but it was still amazing. "Though I suppose with the salarian ark missing, you might not get many chances to compare." His pilot slumped a little, then returned to his upright posture, hands flitting back to their consoles.

Scott shifted a little on his perch, mind suddenly awhirl. "Any word on your people?"

"Not a peep. Isn't that strange? You'd think there'd be something." Kallo managed to appear contrite despite the dissimilarity between their species. "Not that I dislike your company," he reassured, "but it's lonely without other salarians." Scott accepted that with a double nod.

"I hear you. Well, don't worry too much. The Initiative has a Pathfinder, now. There's hope" He laid his hand on the other's shoulder. "We'll bring your people home, Kallo."

"Of course we will. I just... have to keep faith, is all." Glancing back and forth among the displays rapidly, broad eyeballs attentive. "I should get back to it. But thank you. I was afraid the _Tempest_ would be mothballed after... after what happened to your father." Kallo turned his chair to look around the bridge, his own little smile in place. "This is what she was made for. It's what she deserves." He faced forward again, looked up at Ryder. "Please, come by any time."

"Will do, Kallo."

Scott stopped after he'd left the bridge and slid down against a bulkhead until he was squatting, thighs against his ankles. What he'd just promised- the thought of having to take on such a humongous task made him shaky.

The thought of failing Kallo? That made him want to retch, and yet galvanized his stomach.

He wouldn't fail him. Them. Everyone. He couldn't.

* * *

Kallo had told him that they had a few hours left until Eos. Ryder wanted nothing to do with his empty quarters, but there was still one more member of his crew that he needed to talk to.

" _Hello, Scott,_ " SAM monotoned after he'd sat down at his desk.

"Hey SAM." Ryder ran his hands through his hair, leaning forward until his elbows could rest against his knees.

" _You appear agitated._ " Well, he had him there.

"Yeah, just- It's alot to take in. I hadn't exactly anticipated how much would happen." That he would lead. That he would have an entire station's worth of people suddenly reliant on him for their immediate survival on top of _Hyperion_. That he would be pathfinding in actuality. It was, to say it lightly, daunting.

" _Might I share an experience of my own for comparison?_ " SAM requested. What the hell? Couldn't hurt.

"Have at," Scott affirmed with a wave.

" _I have noticed that it is interesting to be renewed._ "

He considered the AI's floating graphic nearby before responding. SAM had used the term "renewed". Synonymous to reborn, recovered, restored, and revived. Simply put; improved. "How do you mean?" The nebula shifted, lines fluctuating and re-arranging themselves.

" _Since my creation, I have been Alec Ryder's SAM. Now, I am your SAM. I am still myself, but now the input and experiences I have are completely new. I will develop in an entirely different direction. The term "reincarnation" seems appropriate._ " Scott blinked, mind parsing through the implications, not the least of them being the use of another "R" word.

"Are you okay with changing who you're becoming? Or maybe a better way of asking would be whether or not you're concerned with how you might develop?" Lines glimmered like nebulae.

" _I cannot know until I have seen the result._ "

"So you have moral and behavioral guidelines coded in." Statement, not question. As much a leap of logical statement as empirical fact. The nimbus whirled again as Scott clasped his hands together at the nape of his neck. Vertebrae crackled with a twisting motion.

" _Yes, though my understanding is only partially complete. This is where a large portion of Alec's dream of synthetic-organic symbiosis comes into play. I am, as you said, programmed to understand the guidelines you referred to. However, I can only do so from a purely logical point of view. As a digital construct, it is the only method I have at my disposal. Through the connection you and I share, I am able to further define this meaning via your emotions and reactions. Your implant allows me complete access to your physiology, and thus all of your senses. Similarities could be drawn to a human going through life and gaining from experiences along the way. I look forward to our continued partnership._ " Oh, but that SAM had a face so Scott could see it in expressive glory... He sniffed, one hand unlatching to scrub at his own face before he sat back into his seat.

"Is it confusing to be in multiple places, talking to multiple people?" He suddenly wanted a slug of something hearty, a few soporifics, and more time than he knew what to do with to sleep. SAM flickered as he compiled a reply.

" _My awareness can be partitioned, so I can give you the same attention as, say, a SAM Node technician. In the field, however, you are my primary focus, and all other requests are queued. To use the vernacular; you have my undivided attention._ "

"So you're still located on the _Hyperion_?" Made sense, considering his "body" would have to contain enough memory for all his coding.

" _Yes. This terminal provides a direct link to my servers in SAM Node. I can maintain a presence on the Tempest via quantum entanglement communication._ " Physics wasn't his strong suit but he knew the basics of how it worked, entangled particles and all that. Sara would have had a better understanding.

"That's... really impressive, actually."

" _It ensures I remain in touch with you and the Pathfinder team at all times._ " Neat. And good for Scott since SAM had taken over several of his bodily processes. Last thing he needed was for the bandwidth to drop. Another question popped up. The rebellion of his chest cavity again caused him to wait until the spell passed.

"You were with Dad for awhile." _Easy, Scott. English. Breathe._ "He ever have anything to say about me and Sar?" Gold washed through SAM's entire apparition once before he answered.

" _Alec believed your family trials brought you together, and hoped that that foundation would endure. It appears his hope was well-placed._ " Scott managed a sickly smile.

"Yeah..." he said lamely. He knew his sister was in good hands, but it didn't make dealing with her absence any easier. Scott was going to worry, plain and simple. Sara would be doing the same in his place. Both of them would be pushing forward, though. Sara needed him to be on his feet and not a wreck. They needed each other strong.

So Scott took his own advice and kept breathing as he searched for another tack with his AI soulmate. It came after a moment.

"So if we're going to work together, you might notice that I like to joke around sometimes. Lighten things up." _That's it, Scott. Baby steps._

" _Alec enjoyed humor and encouraged me to grow my skills regarding it._ " That reply was- _what?_

Scott leaned forward in his chair again, not as far as before though. "Humor's not a skill, it's- okay, try telling me a joke."

" _A neutron walks into a bar and asks, "How much for a drink?" The bartender replies, "For you, no charge"._ "

Scott stared for several seconds. How he kept straight-faced would be forever a mystery. "I can see why Dad told you to keep working on your humor," he replied blankly.

" _I will consider that an invitation to continue doing so._ "

Scott's eyelids drooped, and he couldn't repress the yawn that suddenly stretched his mouth wide. Getting to his feet felt like it took a monumental effort. The bed suddenly looked extremely inviting. _Just this once..._

"Hey SAM, I'm going to crash for the rest of the trip. Have someone wake me when we get close to Eos."

" _Very well, Pathfinder._ " He didn't bother unlacing his shoes, just peeled his feet out of them, pulled his shirt over his head, kicked his pants away, and managed to not miss the mattress.

The darkness was bliss.


	6. Eos I

**A/N** : As a heads-up, this chapter is very long. I didn't want to break up the first Eos mission into smaller bites, and as this is a _re-telling_ , I felt obligated to carry on. But it's done, and I'm happy to present it to you, my readers. Please leave me a like or review if you enjoy it and let me know what I can improve upon.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect: Andromeda is the property of Bioware and its affiliates. I own only my Ryders. That said, enjoy.

* * *

 **Andromeda**

 **Eos, Part I**

 **Or, Vivification**

Vivify: verb (used w/object) - (1) to give life to; animate; quicken - (2) to enlighten; brighten; sharpen

* * *

Scott drifted once again in nothingness, void of thought or even form. There was just the peace of oblivion, of existing neither here nor there. Time had no meaning for him as he floated with the aimless current. And then he felt the first stirrings of awareness, the dredging of his mind back to reality with a deep tremor against the walls of his perception. It was more a pressing against the senses than anything understood by them. Details cleared from the haze, sharpened and became more real. He felt again that same sense of pressing, of being shaken.

Abruptly he awoke.

Cora startled away from the bed as Scott went upright. For a moment, they both stared at one another in silence. Then blood rushed once more into Ryder's skull and he fell back against the mattress with a groan.

" _Hello, Scott._ " The lighting was mercifully dim to his eyes when they opened, though he kept a hand over them for good measure.

"Hiya, SAM. What'd I miss?"

" _We are nearing Eos. I attempted to wake you several times as you requested, with no success. Therefore I enlisted Lieutenant Harper's aid._ " Scott waved the hand not protecting his eyeballs and let it plop back down onto his belly.

"Thanks." Fingers spread apart far enough to allow him to look between them. Harper was waiting, pointedly looking away from him. A glance downward reminded him that he was essentially naked.

"Hey Cora?"

"Yes?" She remained still.

"'Preciate the wake-up call."

"Anytime." Stretching silence enveloped them once again.

"Cora?" He saw her lips quirk.

"Yes?"

"I'm not wearing any pants." Cora's eyes seemed to snap over against her will, dragging along Ryder's exposed torso to his face. Her nostrils flared as she colored in a manner reminiscent of the prior day. Was that the appropriate term? "Day" didn't seem to apply in the traditional sense in space. Bah, a question for another time. Cora turned toward the door, moving with more vigor than was strictly necessary.

"I'll be on the bridge if you need me." He needed to stop making things awkward between the two of them.

Scott waited until he heard the door whisk closed before throwing off the covers and going for the dresser. Opening one drawer revealed several sets of shirts like the one he'd worn the day before. Another, his pants. Well, there were worse things than wearing identical articles of clothing for the foreseeable future. At least they were clean. He took the time to cover up decently enough for a dash to the shower, scrubbed himself clean, and then re-dressed. As revitalized as he was going to get, Scott tossed his dirty laundry into a bin and passed a hand over his face. The scrape of stubble against his palm made him grimace. Time enough to fix that later, though. Out of the head, up the ladder, and onto the bridge he went.

The team all turned with his entrance. Despite the rest he'd gotten, Scott just waved and shuffled forward. "Mornin', guys. Or afternoon, or whatever time it is for us." Elegant, Pathfinder. No-one said anything. "SAM, what's the word?"

" _We are currently in-system, Pytheas. Eos' orbit lies beyond the single asteroid belt. We will come across it in a few moments at our current speed,_ " came the reply after a moment. The ship's master console whirred up from the deck as Scott approached. He leaned forward and used it as a brace to keep him mostly upright, though there were a few interested passes made at the readouts.

"It was supposed to be an easy first step," Kallo reminisced from his seat as he adjusted Tempest's vector slightly. "And then no-one showed and we got clobbered. Twice. Once by the planet, and again by the kett." Scott felt his jaw clench.

They had needed a Pathfinder. Him, Dad, it didn't matter. They should have had someone. Well, he couldn't do anything to help the past. But he could shape the present.

"We're here now," he said, looking first at Kallo and then Suvi, knuckles nearly white on the console. "We're going to make sure that this time, it works." They had to. He had to. After all, he was the Pathfinder. Kallo sat up in his seat at a chime and his fingers began to fly over his instruments.

"On final approach to Eos," he announced. The anticipation on the bridge suddenly became tangible. "Dropping out of FTL in 3... 2... 1..." There was a flash as the ship came back into realspace with a sudden deceleration. Eos loomed ahead, blocking out the sun. The night side of the planet was entirely dark, without so much as a flicker of lightning to give it away. Scott flipped through his console readings and let out a low whistle when he reached atmospheric data.

"Eos looks like a toaster oven."

"Planetary radiation levels are well above acceptable limits for all known Milky Way sapients," SAM remarked. And his people had tried to settle this place? Well, he'd give them points for grit. But he needed to stay on-point.

Suvi's brow unexpectedly furrowed, and then she began to rapidly access her console.

"SAM, why have you altered frequency detection?" she asked.

" _There is a signal originating from the planet's surface, Doctor Anwar. Pathfinder, I recommend an immediate examination of Eos._ "

"Got it. Kallo, take us in close enough to whatever SAM's picking up for Suvi to get everything she needs." The pilot nodded once, not needing any encouragement.

"On it," he replied. Tempest responded to his touch as Suvi bubbled energetically.

"We'll get a better read on this pass than anything the Nexus has had in months! I can't wait." Pytheas began to peek up from the far side of the planet as they came in to a high orbit.

"Commencing scans," Suvi announced, nose inches from her displays. After several seconds, she frowned and backed up. "SAM, analysis?"

" _The signal is a mirror to the one encountered by the Pathfinder team on Habitat 7. Atmospheric manipulation seems likely._ " More of the technology that had cost Scott a piece of his family. That made him uneasy, no matter what it represented for the Initiative. They would be exercising utmost care from here on in.

"Is that even possible?" the science officer queried. Scott nodded from the Pathfinder console.

"Hab 7 was covered in lightning storms. There was some foreign alien tech my Dad activated that cleared the skies and allowed us to leave," he explained, turning so his back faced everyone. "And it means we'll probably run into kett again." Well, that just meant that they'd have to fight. They could win against them. "Kallo, is our landing plotted?"

"Search area integrated from SAM. How he pulled that mystery signal through all the storms, I have no idea," his pilot confirmed.

"Multisensoral neural collation," Suvi explained with glossy eyes. "Amazing."

"We're factory fresh across the board down here," came Gil over comms. "Spinning up compensators." Pytheas coming up past the planet washed away anything else Scott might have heard. Their orbit continued until a hefty slice of the star had been revealed. Ryder put up a hand to shield his eyes as his aural senses seemed to dampen. Things sounded murky, like hearing a sound through layers of water. All his other senses responded fine, but this, he had no explanation for. He thought he heard someone speaking to him.

"What?" Reality set back in suddenly.

"I said alot of people have their hopes pinned on us," Liam repeated from Scott's left, leaned up against the railing, dipping his head as he spoke. "The Initiative promised them a golden world. Instead, they got to see their friends die. You never know how that'll affect-" The other man's eyes widened, regret seeping in. Liam's eyes then closed and he let out a breath as his head shook. "Sorry. Shit thing for me to say. You alright?" Scott didn't really know how to respond. So he did what he'd been doing since Habitat 7 and breathed.

"It's... not an ideal hand. I think Dad's death messed me up more than I've realized," he said after a moment. Liam's shoulders lifted as though to say yeah.

"You haven't really had time to process." Plenty of time to wish otherwise, certainly. "Kind of understandable, I'd think." Scott's head shook sideways.

"No." His brow furrowed in thought. "Well, yes, but there's more to it than that." Ryder looked around the bridge discreetly. "I mean that I think I'm still hearing things. Experiencing them. Other than SAM." Kosta didn't look like he knew how to reply, but before he had the chance to try so, Kallo piped up.

"Pathfinder? We're good. The Tempest checks out." Scott nodded at him after a second and turned to Liam.

"Maybe later." For now, a new world awaited them. Ryder checked his console and confirmed the order to land.

"Take us in."

He could hear Suvi's smile vibrating throughout her voice. "You have no idea how long I've wanted a Pathfinder to say that." Scott turned to grin back at her as the Tempest slipped forward in the vacuum.

"Pathfinder ground team, suit up. Kallo, ship's yours."

* * *

Eos' night sky was black as the Pit, moonless and cold. Percussive booms echoed through the atmosphere before a bright glow blossomed, seeming to flare and follow with the sonic echoes. Then, they all died away. The sleek scout ship in their place sliced through dark clouds without effort, engine reports repeating themselves through the canyons below and around buttes and crags. She didn't start to decelerate until several miles away from the terminator line, pulling up to land within the bounds of a ruined outpost as pre-dawn colored the sky an ugly grey.

* * *

The sunlight breaking over the horizon did not make the sight any more bearable for Ryder. Sand crunched under his feet as he left the boarding ramp and surveyed the ruins of Site 1. The attempted colony's remains looked decayed, not simply dilapidated, as though years had passed and not months.

Gods.

"SAM, assessment." A moment passed as the AI compiled data.

" _Reports state that Eos suffers from severe storms compounded by radiation from the Scourge. Colonization deployment was incomplete due to environmental hazards and, ultimately, hostile action from the kett._ "

"And there was no Pathfinder to guide them," Scott muttered. He strode ahead of his team, taking further stock of the remains of Site 1. It wasn't a heartening view, but he kept his mind focused. Well, SAM had said there was a signal, so they had something to track. "Promise had a communications array, right? That means an antenna, which means that we can follow a signal. Like, say, one generated by a weird alien atmosphere processor."

"Power readings were non-existent on the way in," Suvi said over comms. "Nexus logs list Site 1 having a pair of generators for main power. You'll have to start them up again if you want to be able to access anything." Scott's head bobbed in a nod.

"Understood. Alright people, helmets on. Let's get Promise running again," he ordered, seating his own in place. A structure creaked in the distance. They began moving down the decline, treading through the remaining detritus and upended supply crates. The first building Scott approached remained steadfastly closed. He waved a hand in front of the sensor panel just to make sure that he was doing it right.

" _The door is inoperable, Pathfinder,_ " SAM chimed in. " _Until power is restored, there is no way to unlock it or gain access to any of the closed buildings._ " So no chance of a built-in backup. Well, he'd had to try. Ryder eyed the weather-eaten exterior and then turned his attention to the line of shield masts barricading the outpost from radiation.

"Too long in Eos' conditions. They had to know that their equipment couldn't last long with these circumstances," he postulated.

"How? They didn't have a Pathfinder." Vetra replied. No, but they'd still had enough equipment to do the math. "The best we had to offer was standard issue. Outpost was going through the masts like gizzard picks." Eyeing the tattered shield panels, Scott could believe it. They continued picking their way through the outpost. A few buildings had been left open, by design or accident. Scott poked his head into these structures but refrained from treading on the graves of ghosts just yet. Sand had gotten everywhere inside, adding to the jumbled chaos of science and harvesting stations tossed like a bad robbery. The largest building, what he guessed to be Control, remained closed as they approached. The panel was active, though it flashed red when he hit the access. He peered closer.

"This door's getting emergency power, but it's code-locked."

" _Site 1 issued individual security codes. Each outpost was meant to be self-governing and capable of setting its own protocols,_ " SAM provided. Made sense. Scott turned back to his team.

"We'll split up and search the buildings that have been left open. Liam, Vetra, you're together. Cora, with me." Both teams dispersed and, as it turned out, there were enough keys left behind that each member had one for themselves. Stepping into the newly open building revealed a common area and two more doors. Scott inspected the one immediately opposite him.

"Main door had power, but not the internal doors?"

" _Full functionality requires an active power station, Pathfinder._ "

"Huh. Well, that'll mean that our antenna doesn't have any juice right now, either. Maybe the logs will shed some light." The door to the team's left yielded, however, opening into a command area. The team went through the room and scoured it thoroughly. Liam came across what they were looking for.

"Ryder," he called from a still-functioning terminal. "Got a partial log here." Scott came over to have a look.

"Looks like they took the time to shut everything down before the evac was completed." He read a little more. "SAM, anything?"

" _I am detecting a remote lock, Pathfinder. It will block any power from reaching this station. The source originates from the nearby relay tower._ " That brought everyone up short for a moment.

"So you mean that we're not the only ones interested in this place," Cora observed.

" _That is the most likely scenario, Lieutenant Harper._ " Scott sent copies of the station logs to Tempest's database.

"Alright, let's assume an unknown party until otherwise proven. Eyes open, people. Let's go investigate this power relay."

* * *

Scott blinked behind his faceplate. The possibility of scavengers hadn't occurred to him. Though in hindsight, it made perfect sense. The stranger- Clancy- pointed them towards the generators. "Fair warning, though: You want to poke the tiger? It's on you. Hope you know how to use those guns."

Ryder ignored the jibe and got to work re-activating the generators. And, just as Clancy had predicted, the kett were waiting. The shuttle took mere moments to find them, hostile kett beginning to air drop with military precision.

"Incoming!" Scott called out. His omni-tool vibrated with a charge before he launched out a blast of incendiary plasma, the blob arcing through the air on a guided trajectory. He heard the splash of impact, and the scream of a kett Chosen greeted him a moment later. He was already unshipping his Avenger and defilading to cover. The kett barked amongst themselves, voices menacing, and then co-ordinated gunfire began streaking by.

"Watch our flank! These bastards know what they're doing!" Cora called, hurling a lance of dark energy that made her target think twice about poking its head up. Scott sent a burst of fire out as Liam moved along along the cover of the tower's lower gantry.

"There's one coming up on the right! Cora, catch!" Ryder saw Vetra aim off-kilter a bit and felt the whump of a concussive shot being discharged, and then there was suddenly a kett cartwheeling through the air with a surprised cry. More fantastical than that, though, was a sudden crackle of energy, and then a dark blur as his second biotically charged and mowed into the alien. He swore in surprise and, admittedly, admiration, watching as the unfortunate target careened into a nearby rock formation and fell away.

"Fragging out!" Liam warned, cooking his grenade half a heartbeat before tossing it. His aim was almost true, managing to pepper a bone crest but missing anything vital. There were still two more of them out there. Scott took a moment to glance around, ensured that he was in the clear, then darted under the relay tower and crept forward. One of the kett poked its head out and spotted him in the open.

" _Tonerad!_ " it called, leaning out enough to line up a shot. Before either of them could react, Ryder heard someone call his name, and then a body leaped over him to slam home on the kett, dual omniblades slicing deep. There was a cry of surprise and pain, then Liam was striking relentlessly at the remaining kett. Ryder swore and scrabbled up, awkward in his bent-over posture but able to get into the open and position himself to cover Liam. It was fortunate he did, too, for the target of the other man's first surprise attack was only mostly dead. Scott sent two bursts of automatic fire into its face and then moved on, strafing laterally. Liam's initial advantage of surprise had worn off, and he and the remaining kett were well-matched against one another. They traded several blows in the scant seconds it took for Scott to get a shot lined up.

"Liam, back!" he shouted, giving the barest time for compliance before squeezing the firing stud. He held it down, unloading into their enemy, the body jerking with each impact as he hammered it center mass. There were the telltale clicks, a device catching, and then his rifle stopped firing. Scott mechanically hit the release switch for his thermal clip. The scorching little block flipped through the air as he slid in a fresh heat sink. Turning, Ryder checked the other body to ensure it was dead. Satisfied, he turned to his squaddie. Liam was checking the charge on his weapon.

"Liam? Thanks. That was really reckless, though." Liam shrugged.

"It was necessary. Either jump into the thick of it or let that bastard shoot you. I'm not going to be the one filling out that report." Despite himself, Scott laughed. Cora and Vetra came up.

"We're clear here. Those shuttles didn't look like they were coming back," Harper reported.

"Good." Scott broke down his rifle and stowed it. "Let's go talk to our friend Clancy about Promise's power," he said. "Speaking of which: SAM, was he part of the outpost here?"

" _No, Pathfinder. According to Nexus records, Clancy Arquist is stationed in the hangar bay._ "

Vetra's tone was lauding. "So he used his clearance to sneak off the station and make a few credits on the side. Sly dog."

"Don't sound so impressed," Cora snorted.

"What can I say? I like when someone thinks creatively." They chuckled or groaned, tromping up the stairway to the relay station. Scott swiped a command, and the doors parted for them. A group of humans gawped from inside. The lead one spoke with Clancy's voice.

"You took down all those kett? Holy-" The small collection whispered excitedly. "Just- use it. Hell, take whatever you want while you're at it." Like Scott needed an invitation, stepping around and going for the terminal in the back. Clancy kept pace with him. "Word of advice, Pathfinder: if you're going out past the perimeter, you're going to need better protection from the planet and a ride." Scott pulled off his helmet and tucked it under an arm.

"What kind of ride?" Clancy gestured through the nearby window at the desert outside.

"You don't want a shuttle. They can't handle the winds when a storm kicks up. You need wheels. Pretty sure the outpost kept something out there." Scott turned to his team.

"Cora, take Vetra and do a circuit around Site 1. Look for anything that would hold an exploration vehicle."

"We're on it." They left to begin the search.

Clancy eyed Ryder as he turned back to him "You really think you'll be able to fix Eos, Pathfinder?" he asked. Scott accessed the terminal and began navigating through it.

"I'm damn well going to try." A few seconds' effort found the execute command to remove the remote lock. Scott selected it and confirmed activation. Nothing happened for a moment as the relay station audibly spun up around them. Then, Promise came back online. Primary, secondary, and tertiary workstations flickered to life, lights sizzling on in the ceiling as the long-unused power conduits came alive with energy.

Liam smiled. "Promise lives again," he said. Like something out of a Mary Shelley novel, almost.

"Ryder?" Cora spoke over comms. "Everything just lit up. Vetra and I think we've found what we're looking for. Come find us."

"Got it," was the reply. "SAM, anything on our mystery signal?"

" _Yes, Pathfinder. The source of the signal originates from the large alien structure just beyond Site 1. This structure is nearly identical in appearance to the one your father activated on Habitat 7._ " Just as they'd predicted.

"And we all remember how that turned out. Alright guys, listen up: From here on out, take it carefully. We'll be dealing with powerful alien tech we don't understand. Respect it," Scott instructed. There were affirmatives all around, and he led the way back outside.

* * *

Eos' landscape was mostly radiation-blasted dunes and rock formations. Which made it perfect for Ryder's new favorite toy. Liam whooped from the rear seat with him in boyish glee as the six-wheeled Nomad ramped off a dune. The engine roared as though in approval before the vehicle impacted the ground again, got traction, and hared off like a thing possessed. Everyone jounced inside the cab. Vetra had a slightly easier time of it since her height allowed her to wedge herself more securely in place.

"Can we just get there?" Cora begged from the passenger seat. Scott's devil-may-care grin was fierce and exultant.

"C'mon, Harper. It's shiny and new, so a test drive is in order! Enjoy it while we got it!" he extolled. Cora looked over at him, rebuke ready, and halted at his expression. The admonishment died in her throat as she saw him enjoying himself. Blinking, she faced forward again with an affected huff. Even if it lasted only a moment, she could let him forget his troubles. That didn't stop her from bracing against the door or gripping the armrests for dear life, however. Ryder seemed determined to hit every obstacle between them and the monolith.

Liam pointed over Scott's shoulder ahead of them. "Look at the size of that dune! Floor it!" Ryder upshifted and flattened the pedal, then hit the thrusters with another cry.

* * *

The Nomad growled as it idled where Ryder had parked. He hadn't expected shield masts to enclose the alien structure. That wasn't to say he was ungrateful, though, but the air among the geometric angles and glowing lines was even cleaner than he remembered it being at Site 1. Given what he'd seen one of these things do, he had to wonder if the radiation-blasted devices were even necessary. The Pathfinder team moved amongst the foreign structure warily. A single platform lay surrounded by several bent pillars, like fingers, and one larger structure that glowed with unknown power and machinery. In the center of the platform, an angular console sat solitary, as though waiting for attention.

"Anybody else feel that?" Liam asked: There was a hum in the air, similar to static but not quite.

"Almost like the air is charged, but not as strong," Cora remarked. Scott rounded an obtuse pillar, and what he found nestled further in immediately had all of his attention.

"Well, what do we have here?" His omni-tool flashed to life at a touch, scanner buzzing with data. "Looks like somebody else has an interest in our strange alien tech. Got a shuttle here. Pretty banged up, but it's still spaceworthy." The Initiative-variant Kodiak hadn't seen a refit in quite some time. Scott made sure the data was forwarded to the Tempest before he moved on.

" _Pathfinder, I am reading Initiative technology in your vicinity,_ " SAM said. All four looked around in confusion, but Vetra was the first to catch it.

"Up there, above us," she said, pointing. "And there's some scaffolding over by that pillar. Must be how it got moved around." Scott saw the wide-spectrum scanning field.

"Huh. Weird," he observed.

"Who would take the time to lug heavy equipment all that way?" Liam wondered aloud. Someone very interested in this technology. Scott stepped around chunks of debris glowing with alien lines and larger vessels that looked like canisters of some sort. He ended up in front of the console. Triangular shapes seemed to form the input keys, strange curves pinwheeling in the air above them. Cautiously, he reached out a hand and laid it flat. The lines suddenly shifted into a clearly-delineated grid, foreign runes marking some spots and others just forming gibberish.

"Well, it's working. I'm just getting these glyphs, though."

" _With more glyphs to expand my database from Habitat 7, I could provide assistance, Pathfinder._ " And start it up, hopefully. On a hunch, Scott started for the scaffolding. Careful application of his jump jet got him atop one of the bent-finger pillars.

"Careful," he advised Cora as she followed him. "It's slippery." Moving toward the top end brought him up short as he looked out over the valley. It was a starkly beautiful vista, even tinged with radiation. "Check that out," he whispered. The cloud cover backdropped prettily, moving just east of magnetic north. But, he had come up here for a reason. The standard Initiative scanner was analyzing the same spot endlessly. Bringing up his own scanner elicited a sound of affirmed discovery. "I knew it!" His scanner's readout laid the glyph bare against the pillar's tip, reminding Ryder of a boomerang with a right triangle laid against the inner right side. "SAM, anything?"

" _Analyzing..._ " A moment passed. " _Pathfinder, this glyph appears multiple parts binary code, EEG/analogue baseline, and an unknown data type. It could easily constitute part of the alien language or even a code. Regardless, I am not detecting any additional glyphs in your area. You should now be able to active the console._ "

"Good." Scott took stock of the distance, then jumped off the edge. Several feet from the platform, he hit his thrusters and smoothed into a neat landing.

"Really?" Cora called down to him. Scott smiled roguishly and went to the console. Then he once again laid a hand on the input keys. Nothing happened. SAM came over the comm channel.

" _Building connection. I apologize for any discomfort. The system seems unstable._ " Scott took a step back and eyed the monolith in front of him with something akin to suspicion. This had been straightforward back on Hab 7, so what the hell?

"This what happened when my dad tried last time?" he asked.

" _No. Your father interfaced directly with the atmosphere processor. That proved extremely hazardous. These structures could reveal its control center._ " A moment passed, without any further indicator that they were successful. " _System remains unstable. Doubling our power output might accelerate the process._ "

Scott's shoulders lifted in acceptance. "I'll give it a shot." He stretched his hand out again, the contacts on his thumb and index and middle fingers glowing as the sensors sought association. Then there was a set of rapid footsteps headed towards him.

"Wait!" Scott only had time to register that the voice was feminine before something blue and purple impacted him, hard enough to bear him to the platform decking and nearly give him whiplash. Intelligent amber-brown eyes caught his, and he made out the cool blue skin of an asari, lampblack smeared across her eyes like some kind of amateur superhero. She grinned down at him like some sort of loon, and Ryder found himself returning the ghost of a smile. Then there was the distinct sound of a firearm safety ratcheting off. Cora's shotgun stared down the asari from a few feet away when she looked. Liam and Vetra had their guns trained on her as well but were of much less importance than that very large muzzle.

" _Off,_ " was the sole command, more of a snarl than a word. The asari's lips pursed together in a small, shocked "o", hands raising up.

"Whoa, easy. You've come this far, just let it ride." Cora's eyes met Scott's, and he indicated that he was fine. Reluctantly, she stood down, though kept her weapon in hand. The mystery asari relaxed visibly, placing her hands on Ryder's chest as she leaned forward again. "I've been studying this tech for months. I don't know how you activated those glyphs, but you need to let them cycle through their channels if you want them to work properly." That... actually made a lot of sense. Computers ran through their own routines and prompts on startup, why wouldn't a different type of processor do the same? Mystery Asari's hands patted Scott's cuirass twice. "It's going to be alright. Trust me, okay?" She gave him another goofy grin.

"Alright. Think we could do this on our feet, though?" Scott patted her thighs, drawing attention to the fact that she'd landed astride him and remained on his hips. The asari seemed suddenly to realize the awkward positioning, chuckling before she scooted onto her feet and giving Scott the space to pick himself up.

"I know, I know- who am I?" She held out a hand to aid him, which he took. The effort drew out a grunt. "I mean, it's obvious who you are. I saw the ship swoop in-" Her head tilted down so she was looking up at him through her lashes. "You're a Pathfinder. Was beginning to think that the Initiative just made you guys up so the rest of us wouldn't lose hope." Her voice thickened a bit. "But you're for real."

Scott's feet shuffled, snark tinging his voice. "Maybe you want to knock me down a few more times, just to be sure?"

The asari didn't miss a beat. "Nah, that's okay. You're obviously corporeal. Pretty solidly built, actually." She gave him a critical look up and down, edged with a slight extra interest. Scott laughed, and then the platform vibrated under their feet once. The monolith rumbled, clicked, and the lines glowing along its height flared with incandescence.

"Well, will you look at that." Scott couldn't see the asari's expression as she looked at the structure, but he heard the wonder, and she was smiling when she faced him again. He heard a high-pitched whir and the grinding of machinery. Blue's face shifted into exasperated alarm.

"Ah, crap..." Without warning, she drew the pistol at her hip, the weapon unfolding in one motion, and aimed past his head. Shit. Scott juked out of the line of fire as she squeezed the trigger repeatedly, his rifle already in hand. He made out a vaguely familiar cephalopodal shape floating around a corner off to his left.

"I know these things! From Habitat 7!" There were numerous gunshots. Liam crept around cover to watch Scott's back as Blue scuttled away.

"Later! Just take them out!" There were tinny steps, metal on metal, and a bipedal bot with a flat disk-like head appeared, glowing red. Scott and Liam both sent bursts of gunfire at it. Chips of metal went flying, though the bot retreated, firing energy blasts back as it did.

"Keep targeting that one! They make little bots!" More gunfire. The bots were powerful but only the floating ones had shields. Within moments, it was over. Scott didn't remember much. Blue sauntered towards him, her look approving.

"Not bad. My first tangle with the Remnant was a lot messier."

"The Remnant"? Liam asked before Scott could reply. She gestured at the tech around them and the still shells of the bots they'd just taken apart.

"These monoliths, the Observer and Assembler bots- they're all the remnants of something much bigger. But that's too long. I hate long. So, "the Remnant"." A pause while she pointed to herself. "Like my name's better as Peebee." Scott held out his hand in official greeting.

"Thanks for helping with those things. I'm Scott Ryder, the human Pathfinder. But you figured that out already." Peebee smiled, shook his hand, and looked at him appraisingly.

"You're a mystery. I've been studying those glyphs for months, then you arrive and- pfft! Solved," she said.

"I saw this tech clear the skies on Habitat 7. We're hoping it could do the same for Eos," Ryder explained. Peebee took her chin in hand, clasping her elbow as she began pacing.

"Huh. Atmosphere manipulation? Maybe. Fits the model..." She stopped and faced the assembled group. "Alright, quick lesson. Try to keep up. All Remnant tech is connected. You interfaced with this monolith somehow-" A gesture at the monolith behind them, "-and now it's pinging the others. If you wake them up too, they must lead to whatever master switch might fix the radiation." Again, Scott was struck by the comparison to a computer. Kind of like following a network connection, really, and she'd already explained that it was all intertwined. They had their lead.

"Interface with the monoliths to activate them and then follow the connection to the source. I can do that," he said, following the logic train.

"Sure!" Peebee replied with a nod, turning toward the interface console. "Just don't piss off too many Observers." She fiddled with her omni-tool as she strode away. "Here, take my navpoints. I'll be- I've got to figure this interfacing out. Just be careful. This planet's all kinds of strange."

"You sure?" Scott asked, hesitant to leave her unaided.

"I'll be fine. Worst case, I'll just jump into my shuttle and get out of dodge. Go on, I'll keep in contact. I'm on freq 145.8." Scott acquiesced after a moment and headed toward the Nomad.

* * *

Scott eyed the broken corpses of Remnant machines around the second monolith. He was down another two clips, but they'd managed to secure the zone entirely. The landscape echoed with artificial bass as he interfaced with the machinery.

" _Interface successful, Pathfinder."_

"That did... whatever that did," Peebee piped over comms. "I see pathways lighting up all over. The monoliths are resonating. QEC contact?"

"Well, whatever happened, they're definitely working."

"You did good. Keep doing more." She seemed happy. The air vibrated with engine wash.

"Another kett dropship!" Cora warned.

Everyone dashed to cover.

* * *

"Let's get to it before there's any more kett."

The words had scarcely passed Scott's lips before there was the sound of a struggle behind them. The four turned toward the hex-plate glass behind them, where the sound originated. The conflict heightened, peaked, and then there was a roar as the pane shattered under contact with a quadrupedal form. The broken corpse landed and rolled to a stop amid sharp splinters, gurgling blood wetly. It was a wraith. All four looked back up through the portal whence it had come, heavy footsteps heralding the approach of its opponent.

The reptilian form that stumped up seemed to fill the frame, features sharpening into the familiar lines of a krogan. Scott felt certain that the entire kett outpost shuddered when the newcomer leaped down. He (and it could only be a male) was gargantuan, easily able to surpass Vetra's height without the hump on his back, though he was almost twice as broad as the turian. Bones and other tokens of kills past bedecked his armor in a macabre presentation of vanity.

He looked ancient, plates and scales greyed where Kesh's had been flush and healthy. But he moved with a confidence born of experience, yellow-green eyes cunning and not in the slightest diminished with age. Scars and old wounds marked his exposed flesh as surely as an artist's watermark. Whoever he was, he was not to be underestimated. Slit-pupiled eyes ran over the whole team, spending noticeably more time on Scott, and then the elder krogan stomped forward, negligently stepping on the corpse of his (assumed) kill in the process, and came within a foot of the Pathfinder. Scott stood his ground despite a sudden urge to flee.

"Who're you?" Every word fell from his lips like rusted railway spikes, voice coarse with suspicion. It took an effort to not keel over from his breath.

"We're with the Andromeda Initiative." He nodded in the direction of the animal corpse. "That was pretty cool." The alien twisted to look, chuffing as he turned back.

"Heh. Well, yeah, guess it was." Then thick fingers wrapped around Scott's collar, gripped, and pulled him in even closer. Ryder, taller than the average human himself, was forced onto the very tips of his toes. "Still haven't told me who you are."

"Oh come on, Drack. Stop that," Vetra said, firm but definitely amused. The krogan let his gaze slide over Scott's shoulder, lips stretching into a smile. Ryder seemed instantly forgotten.

"Vetra! Good to see you, girl- How've you been? And why are you with a bunch of squishies?" Taloned digits indicated the humans. "I'd think you would be keeping better company." His eyes flickered back to Scott briefly. "Even Nexus meat bags." Vetra chuckled and placed a hand indicatively on Scott's shoulder.

"I'm with the Pathfinder. The one you're trying to intimidate," she rebutted playfully.

"Heh heh heh." One great greenish orb locked with Scott's gaze. "A friend of Vetra's is a friend of mine." Then Drack pushed them apart. It was gentle for a full-grown krogan, which was to say that Scott took a step and a half back to keep his balance. He recovered quickly and stepped almost back into the space he'd just occupied.

"Scott Ryder. Human Pathfinder," he said in introduction.

"I'm Drack, clan Nakmor," was the reply, the krogan turning to his recent kill. "You'll forgive me if I didn't roll out the red carpet for a bunch of Nexus strangers. They haven't exactly treated my people well." Drack turned and looked back over a shoulder. "What're you doing out here? Last time I checked, the Initiative got their asses handed to 'em in slings by the kett. Twice."

Scott sniffed, thoughts organizing quickly. "Exploring, checking out these monoliths. I've seen one calm an entire atmosphere, so we're hoping the ones here can do the same for Eos. The kett seem to share an interest in them," he explained. "This one, especially." A glance around the conspicuously foe-free building. "Looks like you cleared it out for us, though." That little tilt as the corner of his mouth arced impishly.

"You sad I didn't leave any for you?" Drack retorted lazily, circling around to the far side of the wraith. "Nexus knows shit about the kett." He bent down, grunted, and came back up with a well-used blade. Then he knelt and went to town for his prize. "But they're just waiting to die out there in space." He worked for a second. "I"ve been quads-deep on a couple a' planets for awhile now." Scott nearly snorted aloud at the mental image that elicited. "Taking out kett bases, fighting their ground troops." Drack growled, pulled, and with a wet rip claimed a bloody tooth for a trophy. He examined the item for a moment before returning his attention to Scott. "I know what they're capable of."

Habitat 7 flashed in Scott's mind, the fresh image of Site 1 following shortly. "It isn't good." "Good." Not "pretty", though they were synonymous to a degree. There was a silence as Drack cleaned off the fang.

"Y'know, Drack," Vetra led, tone enticing without having that oily sleaziness so otherwise common. It was two people who respected one another talking. "We could use someone of your... experience, not to mention skills." Liam seemed enthused with the idea.

"We could use a krogan."

"Heh," the veteran grunted. "Tempting as you make it, Vetra, I'm a little old to be carrying squishies through their own fights." His eyes glanced at the Initiative logo on Scott's cuirass and narrowed. "'Sides, the day I help the Nexus again is the day Eos' clouds part and the kett keel over. No offense."

"None taken," Scott said.

"Good, because I'm getting bored and the kett are getting stronger. Seem particularly interested in your alien tech, not the first time I've found them around a site like this." Drack pocketed the fang and began lumbering away.

"You mean the Remnant?" Scott asked. They already had their suspicions, having fought the alien menace most commonly at the strange enigmatic locations. But if what Drack said held true, it was a pattern that was common throughout Heleus. If nothing else, it gave them a behavior to count on. But it was good information to have all the same.

"Yeah, that." Drack answered. "I'm going to go find more to shoot. Try to keep your heads out there, kids." As though for emphasis, Drack reached toward the small of his back and drew the object there, which unfolded into a krogan-designed shotgun as oversized as anything they made. Then he plodded off, leaving them with the desecrated wraith carcass.

Scott grinned nonetheless. "He seems fun."

"The old man's good people. Cranky, but that's just the centuries talking," Vetra said. Scott looked around the now-empty kett outpost, an idea forming in his head.

"Hey Suvi, how much would the researchers on the Nexus like to get their hands on some new Heleus technology?" he asked. A delighted squeal came over the comm.

"I know a few researchers who've talked about it for months now. Even something small. We haven't exactly been in a position to retrieve anything," she explained. "What did you have in mind?" Scott looked around the empty structure as he stepped outside into Pytheas' light.

"Well, we did just take down a bunch of kett. Don't have much room in the Nomad for storage, but I'd bet that we could squeeze a bunch of their weapons in there. Maybe throw some armor pieces in for variety." There would always be later, too.

"Mm, could work," the science officer chirped. "Most of them would prefer something other than weapons technology, but honestly, I think they'll just be glad to have something to do. Grab what you can. I'll let the team know."

Scott turned to his squad. "Liam, Cora, start grabbing guns and stow them in the Nomad. Two of each'll do. Vetra, cover me while I start the monolith up." They split off to do their tasks. Eos' landscape resonated with electronic reverberations, making Scott's chest tremble.

" _Interface accepted. All monoliths are now online._ " Scott looked up and traced the line of energy now visibly connecting all three Remnant structures together. There was a subtle hum, like a charge building, and then the monolith above him connected to something else. His brow furrowed beneath his helmet as he tried to get a clearer view. Scott triggered his jump jet and began leapfrogging on top of the bent-fingered pillars, followed by Vetra. They both eventually came up to a view of the valley as splendid as the last.

"Huh... looks like they're all pinging something in the middle of the lake," he observed, gaze going between each of the monoliths and seeing the connection. "I can see some sort of structure down there, but it's isolated on an island. Peebee, you getting all this?"

The asari's voice was as light as ever. "Yup. You should see the data I'm getting. Meetcha down there."

"Got it. Cora, how's it coming?"

"So far, so good. Looks like we'll just have enough space in the Nomad's cargo for these weapons," she said. "No luck on the armor, though."

"We'll worry about that another time." Oh well, beggars couldn't be choosers and all that. "Vetra and I are coming back, we'll meet you out front."

He gestured for the turian to follow him as Cora replied with, "See you in a minute."

* * *

"Okay, hang on." Scott engaged the Nomad's parking brake and hopped out to the irritation of his squad, heedless of the sudden radiation dose he was getting. His feet landed firmly on the Remnant bridge, as solid as actual ground even though he was suspended over the water. "That... is mind-boggling." Peebee was waving and gesticulating wildly, partially at him and partially at the angular edifices that had appeared from beneath the water like the horns of some sci-fi Lovecraftian monster.

"Ryder! Come on!" Scott looked back up to the Nomad's cabin. Cora was leaned half-out of the driver's door, with a thoroughly consternated look on her face. Scott smiled, stood and turned, then paused. Curious, he leaped up and landed as hard as he could with a tinny strike. None of the triangular plates beneath his feet so much as budged. Experiment finished, he hopped back into the vehicle and drove toward the island. Having a weird alien bridge construct itself on the way over was a strange experience, but since they got across without any issues Scott was willing to overlook it. Peebee waved at the group as they got out. Scott raised an arm in return greeting, then eyed the low edifice that had raised up to unveil the previously-hidden entrance beneath.

Alien gods of the underworld, indeed...

"C'mon, c'mon!" Peebee practically skipped the entire way inside, turning constantly to try and take in every possible detail. The sound of the door closing automatically behind them was ominous. The far end of the chamber was empty of anything except more glowing lines. Peebee continued turning in place.

"No. No. This can't be everything! All that fanfare for an empty room? Who does that? There has to be something else here." She faced Scott and gestured airily. "You! Do your... Pathfinder thing." Scott arched a brow in amusement, but before he could reply there was a low noise. Turning, everyone watched as a triangular depression irised open, revealing a long drop beneath. Peebee scampered around to look in, then glanced back up to Scott with a happy curve to her mouth. "Oh you're good."

"That wasn't me," he replied, carefully leaning out over the edge.

"That's a long way down," Liam commented from Ryder's right. "How're we even supposed to go about this? Suggestions?" Scott kicked a conveniently-placed rock into the opening in response. There was a murmur from the group when, a few feet in, it slowed from free-fall to a much more controlled pace. Peebee's eyes watched with calculated interest.

"That can't be air pressure. Electrostatic? No... Ah, gravitation." Then her face shifted comically as the proverbial lightbulb lit up. "Oh, Peebee, you moron!" She thumped a palm against her forehead. "The door wasn't the actual door, this is!" All this was watched with great interest by the others. But Scott could see her curiosity flare avariciously: His had done much the same. Well, carpe diem.

"I'll let you know," he said, already tilting his body out over the shaft. He flashed a cavalier grin at his squad and the asari, then plunged down headlong with a whoop.

Cora and Peebee both exclaimed at him and leaped after simultaneously. Liam and Vetra followed at their own more sedate paces.

* * *

"Whoa..." Scott did a slow 360 to take in the chamber that they'd landed in. This place was fantastic: little chains of lights, unknown artifacts, and mystery that was tangible. And that was just at first glance. His team had gotten more from their initial scans than the Nexus had since arrival in Heleus. Scott left Peebee to be thorough as he explored the rise behind where they'd touched down. There was another console up there, which he touched without thinking.

"Minimal power. Doesn't look like that interface activated the atmosphere processor, though."

"I think that gravity well works in reverse, too." Peebee's voice nearly made Scott jump, but he managed to look coolly to his left. The purple-clad asari grinned back at him, having managed to sneak her way up.

"Then we'll have a way out of here when this is all done." Her look edged coyly.

"What? Leaving already?"

"Not until we find those controls for the atmosphere processor," Scott replied. The throaty chunk of machinery powering on and spinning up turned his attention back to the console. "SAM?"

" _Pathfinder, a conduit in the platform beneath you has just activated. I am detecting fluid running through it._ " The little firefly lights that were floating along the gravity well glowed more brightly, a surge running through the lines of alien circuitry that were everywhere around them.

"What kind of fluid?"

" _Unknown._ " Judging by the way things were coming to life, they were at least on the right track. " _It is likely to be generating the power spike I have registered. Levels suggest emergency power only, however. Your scanner may have more information._ " A well-practiced motion brought up his omni interface, and then his portable scanner.

"I see the conduit," Scott said, the outline highlighted clearly on the display. "Tracking it... Looks like it leads out of this chamber we're in. Let's go." He began following the conduit.

"Anyone else notice how there seems to be a conspicuous lack of kett?" Liam queried aloud. "I mean, it looked like we were the first ones to figure out this vault place's entrance, but I didn't want to assume. Maybe they can't get in after all? Would explain why they're all over the surface locations."

"We were able to get in thanks to SAM." Cora nodded toward Scott.

"Then maybe they don't have AI as advanced as we do. Or at all," Vetra postulated.

"So that means that I'm going to get their attention." That couldn't end well. They still didn't know just what the hostile aliens were entirely capable of. "Lucky me." Cora clapped him on the back, faux grin stretching her face.

"Relax, Ryder. We'll protect you." There was a round of jeers and razzing, which Scott bore admirably.

"Yeah, yeah." He'd been on the receiving end before: You didn't get through the military without getting harassed good-naturedly. "You guys give me shit now, but see what happens when you have to answer to Lexi."

"Ooh, big talk. You saying you can't look out for yourself?" Vetra called from right behind him.

"Sounded like that to me," Liam joined in from the left. Peebee watched, amused but not partaking. Scott laughed.

"Alright, lock it down. Let's not lose focus. Heads on a swivel, people." The door, oddly reminiscent of the bridge they'd crossed, seemed to deconstruct into the floor. The next room was a passageway that held little of interest except some corrupted data patterns. Zettabytes upon zettabytes of lost information was heartbreaking, but they pushed on regardless. Another gravity well greeted them, shielded by a complicated array of sizzling plates. Of more interest, as far as Peebee was concerned, was a small Remnant device near the well's base.

"Hello," she crooned, stooping to pick it up. "What have we here?" She turned it over in her hands, greedily drinking in details. Scott stepped over to her to have a look.

"Any idea what it is?" he asked. Peebee's shoulders lifted.

"Dunno. A key? A symbol of authority? Guesswork is easy where Remnant are concerned, but we really need more facts," she said. The device was turned over once more and then she pocketed it. "I'm gonna see what else I can figure out on this beauty. Think I'll find something over this way." A hand pointed off to the left. Scott pointed in the opposite direction.

"Whatever works the atmosphere processor and lockdown is that way." Peebee shrugged.

"I do my best work solo. You fix up the vault, I investigate the relic, and together we'll figure this place out." Violet lips twisted roguishly, head canting at an angle. "Besides, I want to know what's over there." Scott inhaled. He still didn't like anyone going off by themselves when there were so many unknowns. Even if most everything was turned off, there might be plenty of bots. Not that the quirky blue woman was incapable, but Scott knew from experience how much people strengthened one another. Still...

"You sure?" Peebee nodded.

"Yup."

"Alright. Not a bad idea, anyway; we'll be able to cover twice the ground." Her eyes creased under the lampblack, cheeks bunching a little with her smile.

"Knew you were smart, handsome. Stay safe. You got my comm frequency." She gave a little wave and lightly strode off.

"You, too," Scott offered in parting. Cora came up beside him.

"Can't be too dangerous if the power's off. Right?" she asked. He made a noise of agreement.

"You saw her back at the monolith, she's obviously capable. C'mon. We have some controls to find."

"Ten credits says she winds up in a pit of spikes." Really, Liam?

* * *

"Damn..." Scott had to turn back to observe the chamber they'd just moved through. More shattered Remnant bots littered their footsteps. But the sight paled in comparison to the panorama that spread out far beyond their field of view.

"My God..." Cora breathed. Liam and Vetra had similar thoughts.

"All this for an atmosphere processor? What is this place?" Ryder wondered. No-one answered. How could they? The angular landscape of ziggurats and weird alien geometry was beyond anything they'd seen or been able to comprehend. It was like some unknown city, vast and unexplainable.

"Peebee, you seeing this?"

"What, the pyramids?" came the chirp. "Yeah, saw those a few minutes ago. Had to move on. What I wanna know is why this fluid hasn't dried up. Unless turning on the emergency power started it all flowing again," she rambled. They poked around for anything of potential value and moved on.

"What are those pyramid things?" Vetra wondered. "They have to be huge."

"Are those roads down there? Those look like roads. Can't even see where they end," Liam said. They all spared another glance but kept going. The next aqueduct they crossed was guarded by more bots. Scott found himself more appreciative of Vetra's ability to draw attention to herself so the team could flank, Liam's arm when it came to grenade throws, and the way that Cora always seemed to know just when to push and when to strategically retreat. For his part, he just found cover, didn't get bogged down, kept his shots to bursts, and ran his omni hot. They saw Peebee again afterwards, on the far side of a divide between structures.

"Ryder!" she hailed, waving cheerily. "That relic box I found? Not a symbol of authority. The Remnant still shoot at me. Think I'm gonna try using it with one of those data patterns we saw."

"That wise?"

"Nothing ventured!" She jogged off and disappeared through another door.

"The atmosphere processor we activated on Hab 7 didn't need all these steps. Dad just interfaced with it and boom- done."

"Let's not," Cora said quietly.

" _Direct intervention was necessary in that case, but clearly unwise,_ " SAM offered. The squad continued moving at a wary trot.

* * *

"A gauntlet, or maybe a hand tool?" Ryder turned the device over in his hands numerously, eyes devouring the sharp angles and iridescent lines of energy etched into it. Might have been a particularly large vambrace, though it didn't feel heavy enough for armor.

"Bet our scientists will love it, regardless," Cora observed. It looked like it could fit over his arm. Maybe...

Curiously, he held it up and slid his hand through it. There was space to spare, so he kept going. When his wrist was at the other opening, his audio output squealed with feedback. He felt his arm vibrate with energy, heard the electrical sizzle of electronics interfacing... and then the Remnant object deconstructed itself. Blinking, Scott twisted his arm a few times.

Nothing happened.

"Well, shit." Absently, he punched a standing piece of Remnant rubble. The device flashed back into existence and impacted the polymer, snap-freezing the surface. The metal shattered. Everyone stopped and stared. No-one noticed the gauntlet disassembling again. After a moment, Scott looked back up, his mouth stretched wide with amazement.

"Okay, that was cool." Nobody laughed at the double entendre. Liam might have had a smirk.

* * *

"Looks like a side room. Could be anything in here." Ryder's armor light pierced through a good portion of the gloom that wasn't lit by the Remnant circuitry. Assemblers lined the walls in dual rows of silent, powered-down sentries. Cora hedged from the door frame, clearly not wanting to go any deeper.

"Uh. Could we not?" Was the fearless huntress afraid of the dark? Surely not... Scott strode in without another second's hesitation. A quick scan of one of the 'bots confirmed his suspicion.

"They're inactive. It'll be fine." Vetra followed warily, eyes darting between the sleeping automatons. Reluctantly, Cora crossed the threshold after the others.

"Hate this. Hate it." The hallway bent at an angle and ended with what seemed to be another Remnant depository. The crate yielded to Scott's touch, though the components within could be scrap for all they knew. Still, parts were parts and the eggheads back on the Nexus would love to have anything they could get their hands on. Ryder straightened with a grin.

"See? Absolutely fine." An Assembler moved. Cora leaped between it and Scott and fired off a snap shot with her gun that blew the thing's leg off. The Assembler continued falling until it thunked heavily against the floor.

Nothing else moved in the chamber.

"God damn it," Harper breathed shakily. Smoke rose from the muzzle of her shotgun. Ryder had no idea how he was keeping a straight face.

"It's okay. It's fine."

"Stop saying it's fine! Let's just get out of here." They trooped back out.

* * *

Scott had stopped keeping track of the number of times he'd exclaimed in wonderment since arriving in Heleus, much less Eos. The cavern they were in had living flora. No sunlight, no water, but the trees subsided hardily all the same. There were more data patterns, more weird architecture, and a god-awful amount of jumping and shooting. But they were making it, one leap at a time. Ryder held them up when a console interface activated something behind them. A section of the chamber previously inaccessible to them was within reach, now. His curiosity was as driving as ever.

"Double back," he ordered, already beginning the trek himself. A few jumps and creative use of the glowing Remnant pillars got them to their new goal.

"Ryder!" Peebee's voice in his ear nearly caused him to slip. "I think I've figured out what that box is. It's a Remnant data storage device! I managed to download some info from one of those floaty glyph display things." Scott perked up.

"Any idea what's on it?"

"Give me some time to work," the asari chuckled. "I'll need to grab my old notes back on my shuttle and maybe my old lab. Goddess, imagine if I could interface with an uncorrupted data pattern!" He could all but see her squealing joyously. "The things we could learn!"

"Aright. Keep safe. That data won't mean anything if none of us make it back," he offered.

"Pfft. Killjoy." He heard her grin all the same. The squad of four made the last jump to their tucked-away secret corner. A bevy of Assemblers and Observers greeted them. The fight was tricky because the Remnant had the high ground, but Cora's biotics and a well-applied grenade made the difference. Scott nudged an Assembler to make certain it was decommissioned. It didn't move.

"Good job, guys." Weapons were shipped and they fanned out. Scott went straight for the highest point. Another "whoa,": A tree rose up out of some sort of unfinished-looking pillar, or maybe it had just been constructed like that. Glowing lines pulsed where nature and artifice commingled. The chamber had six sides, including the entrance from the platform. Two walls seemed to be made up entirely of white-blue lines of glyphs and data. Shattered data patterns flickered morosely around the four sides of the central pillar and on just about every other wall. The significance of what they stood in escaped no-one.

"It's a library..." Scott breathed.

"You're kidding me," Peebee piped, disbelief warring in her voice. His domed helmet shook a negative even though she couldn't see it.

"I'm looking at it right now. You should see all these data patterns." Scott bent and ran gloved fingers through a stream of data. There was a sibilation as the digital runnels were interrupted. Even if they were all inaccessible, the sum total of what surrounded him was greater than literally everything else the Initiative had gathered, maybe even some of the old Milky Way civilizations.

"And I went the other way. Crap. I'd kill to be standing where you are right now," Peebee complained. "Take notes! Seriously, scan everything. If we can decrypt anything from there, I want to know about it."

"You got it." Scott got to work, personally making sure that copies of everything were sent back to *Tempest* and then relayed to the Nexus. There was a tangible sense of loss as they reluctantly turned back the way they'd come and departed.

"Come to Andromeda, walk on air," Cora commented as they crossed another floating Remnant bridge. A look told him it was a not-so-long way down to the strange fluid. Scott didn't relish the thought of landing in that gunk. The moment he set foot off the bridge, he felt something in his foot, trembling up into his body through the boot sole. He paused as the squad filed off the construct.

"Feel that?" he said aloud, tapping a toe. "This whole platform's resonating with... something." Vetra pointed at the nearby door.

"We have to be close to the source of the lockdown. Might be through there."

They continued on.

* * *

"Shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Scott's feet stamped rapidly on the ground, his squad on his heels. Warning lights flashed, throwing distorted shadows all over the corridors as they fled, hearts thundering and blood rushing in their ears. Incandescent flames burst out of a vent ahead. Even inside his hardsuit, Scott felt the temperature shift. "Steer clear!" They dodged around two more, keeping up their manic pace. "Peebee! Where are you?!"

"Don't worry about me, just run!" Happy to take her advice, Scott nonetheless risked a glance backwards over his shoulder. Vetra loped at his shoulder, her long strides able to keep pace with him. Liam and Cora huffed a few feet behind. Further back, he could see the boiling mass pursuing them. The incessant buzzing in his ear was menacing.

"I looked back! _Why_ did I look back?!" The volume of Liam's voice hurt Ryder's ears. He turned his attention front again as they piled through a door and came into one of the shafts.

"Gravity well!"

"We don't know where it goes!" Ryder couldn't tell who it was. It didn't matter.

"It goes somewhere else, we're taking it!" He hesitated only long enough for the four of them to group together before hitting the strange actuating orb. Instantly they were launched upwards.

"That cloud's sweeping the entire vault! Kills everything organic it touches!" Peebee? Everything was hectic. The upward trip lasted mere seconds. Scott used it to catch his breath.

The cloud greeted them again when they reached the top of the well. Ryder shoved everyone ahead of him, away from it. "Don't wait! Go, go go!" Peebee appeared from a side entrance and joined them. The end of the hallway was blocked. They didn't even know how a Remnant door was constructed, much less what would be able to break it.

Fuck.

Desperate, Scott looked around for something, anything that would help them. His eyes fell on a console they'd passed, alight with power and clearly operational. Beyond, the cloud roiled closer. No time to think, fly or die. He shoved himself away, past the sudden fearful glances and startled cries. Feet crashing, chest heaving. His hand stung from the force of impact with the console controls.

"Attempting surface reconnection." One heartbeat. Two heartbeats. Three. He felt his skin begin to burn as the cloud kissed him.

"SAM!"

A deep noise surrounded them... and then the cloud receded.

" _Connection re-established. The vault is now online._ " That would be an adrenaline rush for the history books. Everyone took a long moment to breathe easily, still trying to wrap their heads around the idea that they were still alive. Liam just flopped onto his back. New hums and crackles surrounded the group now that everything was operational. Peebee jittered, a crazy sort of sick smile twisting her mouth.

"That was... Talk about a _rush_." Scott unlatched his helmet and removed it, gulping down air.

"So I'll be the one to poke at the elephant in the room: What the hell just happened? That... field thing wasn't natural."

"I know a trap when I see one." Vetra had mentioned something like that earlier, come to think of it. And he'd just blundered ahead. Lack of knowledge or no, they couldn't be that clumsy in the future.

"An immune response? Like a sort-of medical scrub before startup?" Peebee hypothesized. "This place is full of surprises." That went without saying. Scott nestled his helmet into the crook of an elbow and kept breathing. Well, what was done was done.

"No wake-up like outrunning death, I suppose." The asari's eyes glanced over his face, grin widening.

"Or reactivating a huge mysterious vault. Nice going, by the way."

The console spun up. " _Atmosphere processor is online. Recovering last console activity._ " An orange orb of light coalesced above the console, pulsed, and then lines rippled out into a spider web of light. They all took a moment to just soak the sight in.

"Is that the Heleus cluster?" Peebee's question made Ryder's eyes slide over the entirety of the lights. It took a few seconds, but after a moment, everything snapped into clarity.

"Yeah." He pointed. "There we are. That's Eos." The orb in question pulsed gently, surrounded by geometric lines and Remnant glyphs. Streams of little firefly lights flowed around the whole display.

"Something happened. Because we restarted the system?" Cora wondered. Scott glanced between Eos and the rest of the interconnected spheres, looking for differences.

"If that light is us... then all these points could be vaults on other worlds. Dormant, like this one was," he postulated. There were alot of potential vaults.

"Maybe. But why is there a whole network of them? What's all this for?" Peebee's question just brought up another point that he'd been nibbling at since hitting the vault: How could there be Earth-normal air inside an alien vault, on a planet utterly ravaged by radiation? The only answer was that it was being made specifically for them. But how? Scott just shrugged in awe.

"This tech can create observers from nowhere, or ravage a whole planet. And that's just what we've seen. Those bots back there, the plants these vaults- we can't explain them."

"I once did supply runs for a Council project trying to seed some planet's atmosphere, trying to melt the ice caps," Vetra interjected. It was the piece he needed.

"To help it support life." Cora took off her own helmet and looked over at him.

"That first processor we saw was making things worse, but maybe it malfunctioned?" There was a shadow of sorrow in her eyes, but she still seemed on the mark. Dad wouldn't have had to fix the processor on Hab 7, otherwise.

"Is that what these builders were doing? Making a whole planet habitable? Even terraform a whole cluster?" The implications were... staggering. Peebee suddenly bumped into a sphere that glowed, shimmered, and then pulsed green.

"Hey. Look at this. That's different." Her head cocked at an angle, mouth pulling to one side. "Maybe it's active? We gotta go see." She turned to Scott.

"SAM?"

" _Extrapolating... These co-ordinates lie beyond the space we have currently surveyed, Pathfinder._ "

Scott nodded. "Mark it on our charts. We need more to go on." Another glance around at the hologram before he looked at the door leading to the gravity well out. "Let's head up to the surface. I could use some fresh air." There were no arguments from anyone.

* * *

Dust and debris swirled around the small Remnant site, kicked up by both the winds and the one-sided brawl happening within. Despite their numerical advantage, the kett were losing badly. To a *single* krogan. The veteran warrior made up in tactics what he lacked in vigor, though there was certainly little lost there. A gut kick was followed up by a headbutt that cracked bone, drawing a sharp cry. The old man silenced it with a booming report from his shotgun, already moving on to his next opponent. Thing about these damn kett, there were just _so many_. It made for a lengthy engagement, setting his blood to boiling and body singing. A round clipped the krogan's spaulder, drawing a growl from deep in his chest. He took the head of the little shit that had shot him, bayoneted his buddy, throat-punched a third, and was picking another target when a heady roar washed over the area. A shadow passed over them, and then a six-wheeled rover landed on a kett, crushed it beneath its wheels, and sideswiped another two as it spun around to a stop. The visage of the figure that popped out was hidden beneath a polarized faceplate, but the distinctive blue-on-white palette of his armor made identity easy.

"Drack?!" The krogan bugled with mirth.

"Ryder!" He kicked another kett and shot it point-blank in the chest. "'Bout time you showed up. Think I made these bone-headed bastards angry!" As if to lend credence to his words, a pair of alien shuttles thrummed in from over the cliffside. "Gimme a hand." The entire crew from the Nexus bundled quickly out of their vehicle and broke their weapons out. Five-to-one odds had been about even with Drack solo. Now that he had backup it was laughable, even if they were a bunch of squishies. Ryder even seemed to know how to handle himself pretty well. Not like Cora perhaps, but still levels beyond the average Initiative puke.

"Color me impressed!" he called as an explosion cleared a duo of kett hunkered behind cover. The kid knew his shit when it came to an omni, he'd give him that. Decent shot, too. Drack nearly laughed himself sick when a biotic charge from Cora sent one of the bigger kett caroming off a piece of Remnant architecture. He stomped a foot down on the thing's back and bayoneted it through the neck. The last of the bony aliens ululated some kind of war cry and then charged Drack, swinging a sword overhand viciously. Drack caught the blade on a spaulder and let it slide off, slamming the other shoulder into it and then punching repeatedly until he heard something break twice.

He breathed hard, mouth stretched wide. "Haa, haa. That fight was... _fun_." He rose from his kneeling position and stumped toward Ryder. The human had a grin as stupid as his own.

"Not the first adrenaline rush I've had today, but hands-down the best fight." Drack flashed some teeth as he hoisted his shotgun.

"You're damn right." A chuckle rolled out of his throat like grinding gravel, head canting to eye a few of the corpses. "You handled yourself pretty good, kid. Better than most squishies I've seen. Mighta had your number wrong, after all." Drack fished around his pockets for something and came up with a well-used rag that he began wiping down his bayonet with. Despite himself, he was still smiling over how great that fight had been: His heart was still thudding in his chest like a drum. Ryder checked his Avenger's charge level and swapped heat sinks for good measure.

"So, the clouds parted," he snarked, mouth canted at an angle. "And these kett look pretty keeled over. Maybe us humans can handle our own after all." Drack snorted and put away his rag.

"Well, _you_ can, clearly." He cycled the Ruzad's action a couple of times to work the sand out of it. "But there's a lot more to do before you get to be that smug about it." Vetra chuckled from behind Ryder, stepping up to talk more easily.

"A compliment, from you old man? I _have_ seen everything now." Her brow plates moved in tandem with her mandibles to give her a curiously hopeful air, hands going akimbo to her hips. "What do you say? Wanna help us do some good?" Drack grunted and got some more sand off his gun.

"Henh. You fight good, Ryder. But you're still Nexus and green as a drell. Still, I'm gonna ignore my gut and come along for the ride. You got potential, be a shame to waste that." The mighty shotgun drooped and broke down at the press of a button, then the krogan stowed it. "And before you go saying you don't need a krogan, believe me- you do."

"That's what I said," Liam pouted.

* * *

The anticipation tingling in everyone's veins was a tangible force. Ryder had keyed up his omni-tool and dialed in to Nexus frequencies, broadcast via quantum entanglement communicators on the _Tempest_ to the entire Initiative. Liam and Cora's faces held a wonderment, as though everything else they'd seen up to now had been the opening show. Which, to be fair, wasn't entirely false. Vetra's turian features were harder to read, but the way that she paced, fists clenching numerously, bespoke her restless energy as the pitch poised to become reality in front of her.

Scott smiled and lifted his arm a little higher.

"Andromeda Initiative, this is Ryder. Pathfinder. Eos is ready for deployment." Vetra's pace skipped a little.

"Copy that. Outpost block is inbound," came the voice over the comm channel. "And ready as all hell." There were percussive booms in the distance, blazing contrails heralding the incoming objects. Heavy cylinders impacted around the perimeter of Fairwinds Basin. Explosive bolts actuated, plates of heat shielding thunking heavily to the sand. Shield masts then deployed automatically and scrubbed radiation from the protected zone within.

Then the spacecraft came, preceded by another thunderous cannonade as they breached the atmosphere. Within moments they were mere klicks out. Another handful of seconds and the Pathfinder squad could make out details. The shuttles careened by overhead, veering off to leave room for the other craft following them. The heavy transports came next, maneuvering with surprising delicacy to deposit their blocky prefabs around the natural lake. The buildings went and auto-deployed as the shield masts had, assuming their designated design seamlessly. The shuttles wheeled back around, clustering near the middle of the pell-mell outpost to debark their personnel and various scientific paraphernalia. Two people made way straight for the Remnant pillar that Pathfinder and Company were sheltering against. Scott recognized Addison, with a faint taste of bile at the back of his throat. The male was unfamiliar, though he was the first to come forward and energetically pump Scott's hand.

"August Bradley," he said in introduction. "Operational head for this block. "Mayor" now, I suppose." His lips parted brightly to reveal pearly teeth. "We're ready to make the most of what you delivered." Scott smiled at him in return.

"It took a lot of people to get us this far, Mister Mayor. That's the work you'll continue." Bradley nodded respectfully.

"I hear that." He glanced as a pair of colonists waved for his attention. "'Scuse me, Pathfinder. Duty calls. Come find me later." Addison and Ryder watched Bradley leave before turning their attention to one another. The memory of their first encounter was still sour in Scott's mind, no matter how much the Director of Colonial Affairs' perspective may have changed. Addison broke the silence, managing a small smile.

"Eos is far from golden. But now it's a producer. A real and reasonable first step." She stepped closer. "They think you did the impossible. The Nexus- I warned them." Her expression fell. "Hoping was... irresponsible." She straightened, held a hand out to Scott. "You proved me wrong, Pathfinder."

Scott wanted to spit in her face. She had doubted him. _Belittled_ him. All but shat on what he was attempting to do for the Initiative and what he represented. But she admitted that she had been wrong. Scott did not have to like her, but the fact that she was willing to own her mistakes spoke enough as far as he was concerned. He swallowed his hubris and clasped Addison's hand in his gauntlet.

"I appreciate your candor. We're all on the same side." For the Initiative. All hail the Initiative. Addison snorted.

"I wouldn't go that far." Their hands came apart. "The reality, Ryder? You bought us time." She gestured for him to follow, leading along a nearby path. They reached the top of the basin before the conversation continued. "One outpost on a long shot planet won't stop us from starving." Her look became calculating. "You have a lead on... something else?" Scott nodded.

"The navpoint from the "vault"," he replied. Addison's mouth wrenched to one side.

"Now it gets complicated," she said. "We all want the Initiative to succeed. We just can't agree on how to do it. Be aware. That's all." Scott replied with a shrug.

"I don't care why anyone helps. Just that they do." A step forward for the Initiative was progress. Progress helped the Nexus and the Nexus meant that the Initiative's chances in Heleus were safe. He had to provide that for them. Alec was gone: He was the Pathfinder for mankind, though since he was the only one available right now he pretty represented the entire Initiative. He had to do what needed doing. He had to put his shoulder to the mill, to pound the stone daily and provide.

They would die otherwise. Addison's sole reply was a morphing of her mouth into a smirk.

"I've heard that before. Talk to Bradley. Later, we'll go over the extended job of Pathfinder." She turned to head back down into Prodromos. "Until then, Tann's waiting on the Nexus."

* * *

During the days of wooden sailing ships, the onboard restroom was located toward the bow of the vessel (front end); ergo, head Today, it is an antiquated but still-used term amongst sailors and Marines when referencing the bathroom. As a Navy man myself, I find it easier to simply explain my use of the word than worry about the back-and-forth and getting myself (and my readers) confused in the process.


End file.
